Her best friend's fault
by Not Just a Nerd
Summary: When Alex was 17 and her best friend started dating her brother's best friend, her heart was aching in want of a serious boyfriend; and the 'off limits' sign stuck at Justin's back was starting to fall off. *JALEX* Minor Zarper. My new best. COMPLETED.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own WOWP or any of the characters. Characters will stay in character in this fic. I don't own the song in the beginning either.**

"_Nowadays, my heart is telling me that_

_You build dreams,_

_You live a little._

_You are granted permission as well,_

_Fall in love…"_

_-An approximate translation on 'In dino' from 'Life in a Metro'

* * *

_

Prologue 

When she was seven and still not a brat, her older brother was her hero. He was the closest example of 'male species' she had in her life (_Although now she is not so sure that he qualifies as one.. which guy sleeps with a night light on again?_). She watched him read those books that she didn't understand, she watched him do his homework daily on time, she watched him play with their brother, she watched him talk to his friends…. She watched _everything_ he did.

**When she was seven, Alex Russo's life revolved around Justin. **

And when she was seven, her best friend Harper started crushing on him. It all began one day at the park when Harper fell off the swings, and Justin helped her up, smiling kindly at her. She could always remember that happy grin on Harper's face.

The next day, Harper gathered the courage to talk to him. She grabbed her books and headed to Justin, ready to ask him to help her in her studies. She called his name and he turned to face her, and that's when all her courage left her body.

Alex, who had been watching the entire scene silently, sighed. The problem with Harper was she _always _chickened out in the end. And it was always up to Alex to help her. So, that's what she did. She introduced Harper to Justin- she made them friends.

Ten years later, when she thought about it, that was _probably _the biggest mistake she had ever made.

* * *

Her phone vibrated below her pillow for the tenth time, and she groaned, rolling over in her bed and turning on her bed-side light, her eyes squinting shut instantly, her right hand aimlessly searching for the phone. When she finally found it and answered the call, she was greeted with the usual "ALEX! Where were you? What were you doing?"

"Uh, sleeping?" she mumbled sleepily, rubbing her eyes with her other hand and glancing at her bedside clock. "That's kind of what people do at 1 at midnight, Harper."

Harper sighed, and then took in a deep breath. "I'm sorry Alex… I just couldn't sleep."

Alex groaned. She had been avoiding this talk for what, a week? Well, ever since Harper started acting all '_in love'_. She did care about her best friend, but the last thing she wanted to do was listen to her rant about how great her brother is… it had certain _effects. _

"Fine. Go ahead. Get it all out." Alex said half-heartedly, taking no effort to stop the yawn from escaping from her mouth.

But Harper paid no heed to that and instantly began talking (_if you do not want to use the word 'squealing', sure, go ahead, feel free to call it talking.)_. "Alex, I think I am, falling in love…"

Alex rolled her eyes. (_She already knew that, duh!) _"Umm, haven't you been in love with Justin all your life, Harper?" she asked, chuckling.

There was a pause, quite a long pause. Alex's eyes began to drift shut again, her eyelids heavy with sleep, and just when she was about to go back to her dreams-

"It's not Justin. It's Zeke."

And how could she not jerk up in her bed after hearing that? Surprise of the century: Harper is in love with ZEKE, not Justin!

"_Zeke?" _Alex asked incredulously. So after years of incessant Justin-chasing, which included things as bizarre as making a hair sweater for him, and as creepy as watching him sleep, she finally fell for _Zeke_? "_Really_?"

Harper nodded her head on the other end. "Yeah… I really like Zeke."

Alex shook her head, trying to get past the initial shock. "Wow… this is… so… so _sudden_… I… so, what's the big problem that you can't sleep?"

"I don't know if he likes me or not." Harper replied, her voice all panicky and squeaky.

Alex sighed. _Of course she would have to do something about this. _"Fine… I will help you…." And a sarcastic snort. "After I get some sleep!"

"Oh, sorry!." Harper sighed apologetically. "Good night Alex."

"Yeah, night." Alex replied non-chalantly, hanging up the call.

She turned out the night light and switched off her cell phone (_Knowing Harper, she would probably call in another ten minutes.) _And then she drifted off to sleep. (_Thinking can wait for tomorrow… when did Alex care about thinking anyway?)_

* * *

When she was seventeen and a pampered little girl with a heart of gold, she loved to hate her older brother Justin. She teased him at every instant, she made fun of him, she stole his favorite things (_and occasionally broke them, but those were accidents- __**unintentionally intentional accidents), **_she blackmailed him,she fought with him every day…. In short, she made his life miserable.

**When she was seventeen, Alex Russo's life still revolved around Justin. **

And when she was seventeen, her best friend started crushing on her brother's best friend. At first, she was happy about it, because her best friend was happy, she had the perfect boyfriend (_Zeke had asked her to go 'steady'… yeah, Justin's idea, of course!) _and the perfect life, and she even started wearing something other than fruits and fur. Plus, her endless Justin-talk ended too.

At first, Alex Russo was relieved.

One week later, and she finally understood that maybe this wasn't _so_ great after all. Listening (_Okay, fine, half-listening) _to Harper constantly talking about her perfect love life was …. _doing something _to her.

To begin with, she was starting to miss her best friend. Harper had never dated, she had always been too occupied (_obsessed) _with Justin. But now, when Harper finally went out on dates, she felt her best friend drift away. Suddenly, Zeke was the centre of her attention and the topic of all her conversations, and suddenly, their 'best friend time' was decreasing. (_Is that how Harper felt when she was dating Dean or Mason?)_

At first, Alex Russo thought it was as simple as that.

Two days later, she saw Harper holding hands with Zeke, and _that _did something to her chest that she had never felt before.

Was she _jealous _of her best friend?

_Pshh_… Alex scoffed at her own thought. She had never like Zeke that way, sure, he was nice and sweet and kind of cute, but that was it. She could never be jealous of Harper dating Zeke.

It had to be something else, something totally different….

* * *

"So, Harper, do you want to watch a movie this weekend or something?" Alex asked her best friend on the other end of the phone, as she turned the pages of Justin's Captain Jim Bob Sherwood comics, contemplating which page she would spill ink on (_Where is the climax? Man, this comic is lamer than she imagined…)_

"I can't." Harper replied apologetically, "I have a date with Zeke… he's taking me to out to dinner. Oh, I hear there's a crazy ten minute sale going on. Zeke said he'd take me shopping!"

Alex winced, holding her phone ten inch away from her ear. She never knew her best friend could squeal like _that. _Did love make everyone fools like that?

"Okay, great, have fun. I will catch you later." Alex replied quickly and hung up.

So, that left her 4 options for her Saturday- spend time by herself, help her parents in their work (_pass), _help Max with his new cape (_pass), _go to some science and blah exhibit with Justin (_hell no!) _

_So… yeah. _

On Saturday evening, Alex Russo found herself sitting all alone in her room, reading fashion magazines that she had borrowed (_fine, stolen- her pick-pocketing skills were really good), _texting random people and getting no reply. Yeah, she was bored. But that was not just it.

There was something happening to her heart, some weird aching feeling. And she finally realized, she was feeling lonely. She was feeling lonely when she saw her best friend's fairy tale love story… 

**Yes, when Alex Russo was seventeen and her best friend started dating her brother's best friend, her heart was finally aching in want of a serious boyfriend; she was finally feeling the urge to fall in love. **

She had heard people that that when someone's best friend fell in love, they would instantly get the urge to fall in love as well. Now she understood that those people were right. When she saw how 'in love' Harper was, how she beamed with love all day, how her boyfriend always took care of her all the time, she was finally longing for love as well…

And that's how it all began. **It was her best friend's fault. **

**

* * *

**(A/N: I can see that "The world blurred" didn't go well with you guys, so here you go. **A perfectly new idea and a new fic** **:D** Do you like the theme/idea/plot? This will be heavy jalex, and minor Zarper. This one is my next big fanfic. There I call it. XD I will make this one as good and emotional as 'Dollhouse'**… reviews would be lovely. I'd love to see if I could capture your attention. So, please leave me reviews!** All questions regarding the fic are welcome, since I always reply to reviews XD)


	2. Ch 1: Hold my hand

**Disclaimer: I don't own wowp or the song I used in the beginning. Since it's my birthday today I will be owning the age 17. LOL.

* * *

**Chapter 1 : Hold my hand

"_This life don't last forever (Hold my hand)_

_So tell me what we're waiting for (Hold my hand)_

_We're better off being together (Hold my hand)_

_Than being miserable alone (Hold my hand)_

_Cause I've been there before_

_And you've been there before_

_But together we can be alright. _

_Cause when it gets dark and when it gets cold_

_We hold each other till we see the sunlight._

_(So if you just)_

_Hold my hand_

_Baby I promise that I'll do All I can_

_Things will get better if you just hold my hand_

_Nothing can come between us if you just hold, hold my, hold,_

_Hold my, hold, hold my hand."_

_-Akon, Hold my hand._

* * *

Zeke invited Harper to the Alien Language League meeting on Monday, and _of course_ Harper dragged Alex along.

"What am I doing here!" Alex whined, as she walked alongside Harper, her eyes darting left and right, to find _anything _that might just help her run away. "It's _your_ boyfriend's geek world!"

Harper smiled, put an arm around her shoulder and began her cheerful chirping. "Oh Alex, I know how you miss hanging out with me… we will get to spend some time together. This will be fun."

_Sure. If her definition of 'fun' was watching geeks dressed in identical hideous green T-shirts talk gibberish. _

Alex sighed and they continued walking quietly, until they reached their destination and her eyes caught sight of a familiar geek.

"Hi Justin." Harper chirped. "Have you seen Zeke around? I need to show him my new alien-themed dress."

"Uh, he's over there", and as soon as he pointed his finger, Harper was gone.

Justin blinked a few times, staring at the lovey-dovey couple, shook his head, and turned to look at Alex, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"That's what I have been asking myself for the last ten minutes of my life." Alex snarled, rolling her eyes. "Ugh! I can't believe I let Harper drag me here! Now I have to stand you for an hour! Ugh!" she groaned.

Justin eyed her up and down several times, still suspicious.

"Yo Justin, zing tang tung." Some geek called out.

"Ting lung ching." Justin called back, and started walking over to the table, glaring threateningly at Alex one last time.

And the torture began with Zeke reading out his weekly report, and Harper staring at him with love-sick eyes, almost drooling all over the table. Alex groaned inwardly and cursed herself for coming here, glancing at her watch a thousand times a minute.

And then, each geek began to deliver their weekly report, and Alex just held her head in her hands, giving up all her hopes, and sat there, just waiting for all this to get over so that she can get home and take a headache relieving pill.

However, her head shot back up when she heard Justin's voice. "My fellow Alien Language League members", he began.

And she coughed in her hand. _Instinct. _

All eyes shifted to hers, especially Justin's, who stopped his speech for a moment to give her a deadly glare.

_Okay. So maybe Harper was right. This __**was **__fun._

Justin cleared his throat, grinning apologetically at his fellow geeks, and began again-"My fellow Alien Language League members-"

-And she coughed in her hand again.

"Alex!" Justin snapped in an annoyed tone. "I am trying to present my report."

"Yes, I can see that, duh." Alex snapped back, rolling her eyes.

Justin shook his head, took in a deep breath to recompose himself, and began again. "My fellow Alien Language League members-"

-And she coughed in her hand. _Again._

"ALEX!" Justin yelled, holding up his hands in the air in an irritated gesture. "What are you trying to do?"

"What are you talking about, Justin?" She opted for denial and replied sweetly, batting her eyelashes, and smiling at him innocently.

"You know what I am talking about!" Justin yelled again, losing his patience.

"No, I don't." Alex replied innocently again.

Justin growled, and blurted out several incoherent words in his Alien Language. (_She was willing to bet those were curses, but since it was Justin, umm, okay, maybe not.) _

She grinned at him mischievously, and then looked at Harper, who was shaking her head and giving her a disapproving look. Alex shrugged and crossed her arms, glancing at Justin. "Fine, continue your alien speak Justin." She mumbled.

Justin titled his head to a side and studied her face suspiciously.

"Oh just get this over with so that I can go home!" she half-snapped, half-whined in annoyance.

And he began reading again, this time paying no heed to her loud, dramatic yawning or her occasional snorts.

When his speech as well as the meeting was over, Zeke decided to take Harper out on a dinner, so Alex was torn between walking home alone while pranking random people or walking home with Justin while annoying him.

"You are coming with me." He said in a tone of finality, ending her inner debate.

"Fine." She gave in without a fight. (_If he was asking for trouble, who was she to deny him?)_

"You are such a pain, you know that?" he asked, as he grabbed his jacket.

Her mind was, however, paying attention to something else, her eyes fixed on her best friend, who was holding hands with her boyfriend, with a dreamy smile on her face, living completely in their own little world.

"Come on Alex." He commanded gently, breaking her out of her trance.

She nodded, and started following him out the room, glancing at Harper and Zeke one last time.

"So… um… did you like our Alien Language League meeting?" he asked her as soon as they began walking, smiling at her hopefully.

"No." she said, accompanied by an eye-roll. "Isn't that obvious, Justin?"

He sighed sadly. "Sorry for hoping that my sister would be a little more supportive of me."

"Oh I _am_ supportive." She protested, crossing her arms.

He snorted. "Yeah, you just have a really…" he paused, searching for the perfect word. "…_unique_ way of showing it." He said, earning a grin from her.

"Hey, I was just trying to make your meeting a little less boring so people can enjoy it and will actually join your weird club." She defended herself, still smiling.

He shook his head, giving her a playful glare. Her grin grew wider and she smacked his shoulder playfully. "Now come on, buy me an ice-cream."

He nodded, and took out his wallet. _What? No argument? Really? _

He bought a chocolate stick for her, and an orange one for himself.

"So… What do you feel about Zeke dating Harper?" she asked, taking a bite from the ice-cream.

He gave her a confused look.

She rolled her eyes, licking the sweet delicacy (_Why did food taste tastier when it was bought with Justin's money?)_. "Don't you miss hanging out with Zeke?"

He shrugged and stopped walking and eating to look at her properly. "I do… but I have other stuff to do. So that's okay… why? Have you been missing Harper?"

She nodded, keeping her eyes fixed on his ice-cream, waiting for the melting part to fall on his clothes. "Yeah, I really miss Harper… I feel lonely without her."

"Aww, I'm sorry." He said sweetly, "But don't worry. You will get used to it soon. I am sure you can find something else to do, like-"

And the top part of the ice-cream fell on his alien junk shirt. She laughed out loud, unable to contain her delight. (_Seriously? __Was he holding an ice-cream or his light saber? Who tills it like that?)_

He jumped up in surprise, dropping his entire ice-cream. "Oh, man!" he groaned, looking at his ruined shirt and then his dropped ice-cream. "I will have to wash this as soon as I get home… come on Alex."

_What, no shouting or yelling at her for laughing at him?_

She brought her ice-cream near her mouth and took a bite, glancing at Justin's sad face from the corner of her eye. "Stop acting so overly upset! It was just an ice-cream!" she scoffed, shoving her one near his face.

He eyed her quizzically.

She rolled her eyes. "Take a bite. It's not poisoned- it wasn't made by me."

He smiled at her sweetly and shook his head.

She shrugged, and returned to enjoy her treat. (_What? You thought she'd throw her ice-cream away because his fell down? Oh, Please! She's no heroine from a cliché romance movie.) _

"So." She spoke, her mouth still full. "What were you saying?"

"Hmm?" he thought for a moment, recalling the topic they were conversing about. "Oh, right. You could do other things. Like… umm, read a book, watch the news, study, help mom and dad with-"

"-Justin", she interrupted impatiently. "I was asking for a list of fun things that I can do, not a list of punishments!"

He sighed and shook his head. "Umm, how about you hang out with me?"

She titled her head to look at him and furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion. "You are asking _me _to hang out with _you?" _She asked in disbelief.

He nodded, fidgeting with his hands. "I don't have anything to do on weekends either… maybe we can find something interesting to do?"

"We?" she asked, still shocked by his offer. "You mean you and me?"

"Yeah?" he replied, licking his lips nervously.

_Okay. So he definitely wanted to spend his weekend arguing about what to do._ _Or he wanted to spend his entire life turned into a toad._

"No Max?" she asked again.

"Umm, no." he replied, and then let out a small chuckle. "Not unless you want to go shopping for giant bananas."

She chuckled too, tossing the ice-cream stick and its wrapper on one side of the road.

"Alex! You shouldn't throw stuff on the road like that!" he scolded, running off instantly to pick it up and throw it in the dustbin.

_Okay, so maybe she can spend the weekend watching Justin pick thrash from the road? _

"Okay, sure, let's hang out together." She agreed as soon as she got the brilliant idea. (_Ha, Mr. Laritate was right! She **was** an evil genius!)_

He smiled at her cheerfully, and nodded his head in a thankful gesture. "Okay, so, umm, do you have any plans?"

"Umm... No..." she lied. (_Shhh! She'll manipulate him into picking thrash.)_

"Okay, umm, then I'll think of something." He said sweetly.

She shrugged, grabbing his handkerchief from his pocket and wiping her hands with it.

"Alex! That's my fav- Give it back!" he yelled.

"Take it!" she challenged, sticking out her tongue at him. _(Really mature.)_

He reached for the handkerchief, trying to yank it away, but she maintained her strong grip. They looked at each other, him glaring angrily, her smiling mischievously. They began walking away, both siblings keeping their grip on the handkerchief firm, not wanting to let go and lose.

After walking two blocks, talking and arguing, Justin intertwined her little finger with his. She was so absorbed in the argument that she didn't even notice (_Hey, winning every argument with Justin was a RULE!)_. Two blocks later, the ring finger was next, followed by the middle finger, and so on.

When they reached their home and he let go of her hand, her eyes grew wide and she _finally _realized that they hand been holding hands all the way. (_Why didn't she notice? Did his hand feel so... familiar?)_

Her heart skipped a beat, and her mind played images of Harper, Zeke, alien language league, hands, fingers and Justin... and she tried not to think about what that meant.

* * *

"Hey," he called, opening her door slightly, and peeked.

She startled at bit at his unexpected appearance (_That had nothing to do with those images. Nope. She wasn't thinking about it.) _and looked at him questioningly.

He grinned, holding up his handkerchief in his hand and dangling it. "You _totally_ lost." He said smugly, before closing the door and walking away.

_Yeah, she could see that she was 'starting to lose it'. Ugh! Why did Harper have to hold hands with Zeke?_

Alex sat back in her bed, thinking. (_Yes, Alex Russo was thinking. Ugh I can hear you gasp!__) _Was Justin holding her hand just to get hold of his handkerchief? And why did she like it? Why did she... want it?

_Ugh! Thinking is so complicated!_

She groaned, burying her head in her pillow. She wasn't sure of any of these, of any of her feelings, but she was sure of one thing. It all began with Harper holding Zeke's hands. It was _totally _her best friend's fault.

* * *

(A/N: there's chapter one. I think I finally perfected the characters, right? Okay, you are granted a break from my angst XD this one is gonna stay happy for a few chapters, then I will move to angst. You like it? Please leave a review. **This is an update for two weeks, my fast updating finally ends.** **Next update will be two weeks later, I am gonna be offline studying**. Why do I have to study about pendulum clocks? I have no plans of time traveling back to the 18th century! XP **Please review guys, I love to hear from you and respond to you! It's a nice break from my study stress. And oh yeah, if you have anything to ask, feel free to PM me.) **


	3. Ch 2: Be careful what you paint

**Disclaimer: I do not own WOWP or the song I used… this is a 4 day weekend for me, yay! :D**

**Chapter 2: Be careful what you paint  
**

"_Oh my mind you are crazy,_

_Only you know what you are thinking,_

_Only you know what you are thinking, crazy thing._

_Why do you show me dreams when I am awake and asleep?_

_When dreams fall from my eyes, drop by drop,_

_How will I go on?_

_How will I not see unknown paths?"_

_-an approximate translation of 'Iktara' from 'Wake up Sid' _

* * *

His Tuesday began with her usual 'Bad morning dork', fighting over her unnecessary hogging of the bathroom, and of course random bickering for no reason.

On the Subway to school, she sat next to Harper, half-listening to her talk about her last night's dinner, while he stood in front of them, bumping knees with people's briefcases, and half-listening to whatever Max was saying. His eyes were fixed on the window, as he mused about his life, about whatever had happened to him the last day. Why the heck did he suddenly get the idea of holding her hand? Was it just another extended method of fighting with Alex?

He stole glances at her from the corner of his eyes, watching carefully for any sign of discomfort or uneasiness in her face. The only signs he saw were annoyance and boredom.

Okay. So maybe she didn't make a big deal out of the stupid hand-holding thing? He shrugged to himself in relief. _Of course_. Since when did _Alex_ start thinking?

* * *

She had never ever been _that _happy to reach school (_Who was she kidding? She had NEVER been happy to reach school)_, but really, Mr. Laritate's cowboy lingo was better than Harper constantly talking about Zeke! (_That was a fear lurking in the back of her mind that Harper would soon take to alien speak. But really, her Zeke speak wasn't anything earthly either!)_

She stood near her locker, took a sip from her drink and shook her head, as if that would clear the thoughts away. She glanced around the hallway, trying to locate Zeke.

"Hey, Harper, there's Zeke!" she said enthusiastically, pointing at him.

"Where?" Harper cried, before promptly running off to him.

Alex sighed in relief, leaning against her locker. _Never_ in her life had she felt so irritated with Harper. Come on! Did she care about what Zeke had for breakfast, or how he revised his studies before an important test, or any of the other dorky things he did?

_Speaking of dorks…_

Her eyes caught sight of Justin, taking out books from his locker, completely engrossed in his work (_Only he'd care about classes. Every normal being thinks studying is torture!)_. An evil grin formed on her lips, as she suddenly got an idea to mess with him.

* * *

Justin took out his physics book from the locker, followed by his sticky notes, and his highlighting pen (_What a nerd!)_. He closed his locker shut and turned around, and-

_**Smack!**_

He stood frozen for a moment, his eyes nearly bulging out of his skull, trying to comprehend what happened. _Did Alex just slap him for no reason?  
_

He was brought out of his trance by the sound of her laughter, as she walked towards her classroom. "Alex, what the-" he called out, but trailed off, as the panic alarms suddenly began to ring in his head. His mind was clouded with a new fear- Did she slap him for… _holding her hand? _

* * *

The classes went unusually good for Alex; she zoned out on Harper's yap and focused on relishing her success at annoying Justin. (_That look on his face was priceless. Why didn't she take a picture? Damn, she didn't think this through properly!) _

During lunch break, she entered the cafeteria with Harper, glancing around to see if there was _any_ cute boy in sight (_What? If Harper was dating, why couldn't she? A double date would be half as bad as this!)_

"Hey Zeke!" Harper squealed, waving at him with as much force as a drowning person does when calling for help. (_Well, Harper WAS drowning in the ocean of love. Yup, her own words.) _

"Hey Harper!" Zeke waved back just as enthusiastically. "Come on over here!"

Alex groaned. _Great. Perfect. Way to ruin her fun. _

Justin tensed in his seat, keeping his eyes fixed on his Captain Jim Bob Sherwood lunchbox, never looking up at her.

Alex walked over to them. (_Okay, fine, Harper dragged her to their table) _and took a seat beside Justin. (_She was NOT sitting with Harper again!) _

"Hi Zeke." Harper said with a dreamy smile on her face, as Zeke took her hand in his.

Alex scrunched up her nose in disgust, getting sick of their constant boring mushy romance. _(And she thought no one could be more annoying than Juliet and Justin, huh?)_

After three minutes, she gave up trying. "Wow, that is really great, really, all of this…" She lied, faking a small smile, "but that's as much of mush that I can take today… so, come on Justin!"

She grabbed his arm, and pulled him away from the table. (_Yes, for once in her life, she helped Justin and didn't just abandon him. Remind her of this when she needed something to hold against him)_

Luckily, they found another empty table and could sit down to finish their lunch.

"Ugh, I can't stand this!" Alex groaned, glancing at Harper and Zeke, and their intertwined hands.

"It _is_ getting a bit too much…" Justin admitted, glancing at them as well.

"How can you eat with so much sap going on?" she complained, stealing food from Justin's box, just like she did at home.

He shrugged, slapping her hand away from his box the next time. "It's kind of romantic."

She raised her eyebrows at him in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me! You call _that _romantic?" she asked, pointing her finger distastefully at them.

Justin quickly slapped her hand down, before anyone else could notice. (_When will he accept the truth that she will never care about manners and etiquette?) _"Everyone have their own idea of romance." He argued, wiping his hands clean with a tissue. "Besides, you are the one who got them together."

"That's because I couldn't stand Harper being so miserable!" she explained, remembering her best friend's troubled face, "she was so confused. She was calling me up at 1 pm, instead of just walking upstairs to my room! I thought I should help her out. And now, I'm the one that's suffering. See, this just proves it again, I've _got to_ stop being nice to people!"

A genuine smile formed on his lips, and he patted her left hand sympathetically. "Don't worry about it, you'll get used to it."

She shrugged and shook her head (_They just kept getting worse and worse every time she thought she had gotten used to them)_, continuing to eat her Tiffin.

Five minutes later, she had a mini-panic attack when she noticed that Justin _still _hadn't pulled away his hand. _Okay…_

"Are you doing this on purpose?" She asked, motioning at their tangled fingers. "Like, is this some new torture technique?"

He pulled his hand away like her touch was burning him, and stood up instantly. "Sorry, I didn't realize I was… umm, I'm getting late for class. Later."

The way he ran away! She had to resist the urge to pull out her cell phone and take a picture.

Alex shrugged non-chalantly. _That was fun. _

_

* * *

_

When they reached home, he quickly rushed to his room to finish off his homework, and she quickly rushed off to her room to get ready.

By the time he was done and went downstairs, she was already gone painting underground.

* * *

"Hi Alex." He whispered from behind, loving it when she jumped up with a surprised yelp.

"Oh, it's _you." _She said with annoyance, irritation and scorn in her voice, bending down and grabbing the brush that she had dropped. "Why are you doing here?" she demanded, glaring at the painters who had decided that watching Alex and that guy talk was more fun than concentrating at their own paintings. (_How much longer would it take them to realize that Justin was her brother? Wait, this could work. Those stupid guys weren't trying to hit on her anymore!)_

He shrugged. "Mom sent me here to make sure that you don't go home alone… it usually gets pretty late when you return home… what are _you _doing here?"

"It's _my_ painting tunnel." She said incredulously. "I come here to paint, Justin. And they say you have a great memory. Ha!"

He shook his head. "No… what I meant is, what are you doing here today? You usually paint during weekends."

She shrugged, observing Justin's shirt carefully. (_Lime green colored shirt was JUST the thing she was looking for her new experiment! Besides, his shirt could totally use a few dabs of paint. Which guy wore such clean clothes?) _"I have nothing else to do. Harper is hanging out with Zeke and I…wait a minute." she paused, her eyes growing wide as realization dawned on her. "How do _you_ know I come here on weekends? Oh my gosh! HAVE YOU BEEN FOLLOWING ME?" she shrieked, crossing her arms in front of her chest, glaring intensely at him.

Once again, the painters stopped their work to watch her and Justin. (_Really? Didn't people have anything better to do than be nosy?) _"Oh I can see you staring!" she yelled, and they looked away instantly. (_What? It's not her fault that people dreaded her sneaky side!)_

She turned her full attention to Justin once again, tapping her feet on the floor impatiently.

"You are my little sister." He began again. _(That dialog was getting REALLY old, over-used and cliché.) _"I need to make sure I know what you are doing."

She glared at him, and jerked her brush in front of him, staining his face with paint.

"Alex!" he yelled, wiping paint off his cheek. "What was that for?"

"For spying on me?" she yelled back, and jerked her brush again. "And that was a warning for the future."

He closed his eyes against the paint splash, taking in a deep breath to stay calm. "We need to go home."

"Yes, you do." She replied, returning her attention to her painting. "I will catch up when I finish this."

"I am not letting you go home alone." He announced sternly.

She whined. "Justin, please, I am seventeen! I can go home alone! I don't need you watching over me!"

"Fine." He sighed, shoving his hands in his front pockets. "But someday I might not be there to watch over you."

She turned her head for a moment to give him a curious look. "What do you mean?" she asked, trying to act indifferent. (_Stupid voice. Couldn't you a find a better time to be shaky? Like when her father was scolding her and she needed to pretend to be crying?)_

He sighed again, and looked down at the ground. "I have been going over the list of medical colleges, and…"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" she interrupted, putting her paint-brush aside, and put her hands on her hips, ready for a fight. "Are you saying you're going to a far away college?"

"Yeah." he replied sadly.

"Oh." She muttered, trying her best to blink back the tears. She shrugged and turned away, so that he couldn't notice the one tear drop that slipped from her eye. (_See! This is what listening to too much mushy talk does to you!) _

"I will miss you too Alex." He assured quickly, and then to cheer her up, added. "Besides, it's still a few months away."

An evil grin formed on her lips again. _Okay, so maybe she can find a new way to stop him? _

"Let's go home." She announced happily, wiping away the tear without him noticing.

"Okay…" he said skeptically, observing her face. "I am sorry Alex."

She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Like I actually care about you." She huffed indignantly, marching away.

He grinned. "You totally do!" he yelled behind her in a sing-song voice, picking up her paints and brushes. (_Of course she would make him carry her stuff.)_

His hands froze when he took a proper glimpse at her painting. Why did she… was that…..

_Two hands, intertwined together?_

* * *

(A/N: Cliffhanger! XD Okay, chapter 2 is up. Please review and tell me if you like how this is going. I am not sure when I can update next, I've got a Math class test to ace this Tuesday, and then loads of other school work. But still, **review for faster update**!)


	4. Ch 3: When all plans fail

**Disclaimer: I do not own WOWP.**

**Chapter 3: When all plans fail **

"_Something is special, something is near._

_Some foreign feeling is there._

_There is some distance, there is some nearness,_

_There is a sense of loneliness._

_Is this the floral season?_

_Is this the wait?_

_Maybe this is love, this is love maybe…"_

_-An approximate translation of 'Kuch Khaas' from Fashion. _

_

* * *

_

"Umm, Alex?" Justin called out, making her stop, whine, turn around, and walk back, all the while glaring at him.

"What?" she snarled, grabbing his wrist and pulling it right in front of his face, so that he could see his watch. (_Ah, now she knew what was missing from the "Justin's favorite things from his room" box.) _

He yanked his hand away, with a huff and a glare, gulped twice when he noticed the evil glint in her eyes, took off the watch, put it in his wallet and placed it securely in the pocket of his shirt. (_Ok, so his watch felt lonely without his money? Fine. She could steal both. You're welcome.)_

He gulped again and licked his lips nervously, finally going back to his original question. "What's this?" he asked, gesturing at the painting with his index finger.

"I'll tell you what it is." Lee intruded, suddenly appearing behind them. (_Sometimes she swore he had magic. It's like he appeared out of thin air. Poof.) _"Those are two hands, representing the medieval age and the modern period. This painting represents the union of the old and the new, the past and the present!"

Alex stared at him for a few seconds, blinked a couple of times, and stared at him again. (_And she always wondered why he ended up drawing cheesy greetings cards, huh? Really?)_ "No" she finally said, overcoming her initial shock. "It's a picture of two people walking hand-in-hand, representing…. Two people walking hand-in hand." She ended with a non-chalant shrug.

"Why did you suddenly decide to paint that?" Justin asked again. "I mean… you're not the hand-holding type of girl."

She groaned in frustration. (_Maybe she would have gone with Lee's explanation. At least that would have made Justin lecture her on history instead of asking a hundred questions.) _"It's just a painting, gosh! Do I need your permission for what I paint?"

He narrowed his eyebrows in discontent. "Why can't you even answer a simple question I ask?"

She shrugged and started walking again. "It's been stuck in my head for a while. It's all Harper's fault."

He breathed a sigh of relief, mentally wiping sweat from his forehead… oh wait, he _was _actually sweating.

"Justin!" she yelled impatiently from a distance.

He quickly grabbed her stuff and started running in her direction. "Coming!"

_

* * *

_

She got the biggest shock of her life on Wednesday morning, when she walked into the basement. Her eyes grew wide as she looked around- pictures of Zeke, Zeke, and Zeke. Zeke on the wall, Zeke on the ceiling, (_How in the world did she even reach that? MAX!) _Zeke on all photo frames (there were at least 30 of them), Zeke on the plates… so yeah, pretty much everywhere. _And now she knew what would be the theme of Harper's new dress. _

"Hey Alex." Harper gushed, running up to her best friend. "You woke up early this morning. Is everything alright? Is it some guy? What's his name? Is he in our school? Oh I hear that there's this new guy in-"

"-Harper", she interrupted, cutting her off. "It's not that. I needed help with something else."

Harper looked at suspiciously. "I am not helping you cheat on your history test again! I don't want your brain in my body!" she panicked, retreating backwards immediately.

"No, no, no, it's not that." Alex assured quickly, deciding to cut to the chase. "Harper, how are you going to stop Zeke from going into college?"

"Why will I stop him?" Harper asked in confusion. "I want him to go to college so that we can have a healthy, prosperous and happy life in the future." She chirped, with that dreamy look on her face again.

_Right… It wasn't going to be that easy. Fine. Time for manipulation. _

"Harper, Harper, Harper", Alex said slowly, in a soft, hypnotizing voice, as she put an arm around her best friend's shoulder and started pacing back and forth in the room with her. "Imagine, Zeke goes to a college _far, far, far _away from here, _so _far away that you cannot even _meet_ him regularly. Imagine how _miserable_ you would be without him. How will you live without your Zeke?"

Harper scoffed, breaking away from Alex's grasp and standing face to face with her. "Oh Alex, don't you worry about me! I always knew Justin would go away. So I had prepared myself to live without him. I can do the same with Zeke. See, it's very simple. We just need to pass one year somehow. After that I will graduate High School and join him in his college. We can rent an apartment and stay happily forever." Harper finished narrating her future plans, the dreamy smile returning to her face.

Alex glared at Harper. _Why did Harper have to be so mature? Great! Now she had to use her dirty tricks! Gosh, she hated doing this to her best friend. _

"One year is a long time Harper." She began once more, a slight hint of guilt in her voice. (_Stupid conscience!)_ "A _really _long time. _Three hundred and sixty-five _days. Everything can change in that time. I really didn't want to say this, but, Zeke can, you know, find another girl."

Harper scoffed once again. "Oh Alex, you're so funny! Zeke will never look at anyone except me." She said with such a confidence, that Alex knew it was _impossible _to manipulate her. Honestly, she didn't want to break her best friend's trust on her boyfriend. _Come on, she isn't that heartless! _

"Harper", she sighed, sinking down to the bed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do this… I just don't want Zeke to go way to college!"

"Why not?" Harper asked in puzzlement. (_Nope, Harper wasn't suspicious that her best friend was interested in her boyfriend. That was kind of why she was puzzled, duh!) _

"Because", Alex paused, contemplating one last time whether she should say the words out loud, "Because if Zeke doesn't go to college, maybe Justin wouldn't." she finally confessed, her voice low, her eyes fixed on the ground.

Harper's eyes softened in understanding. "Oh Alex!" she gushed, wrapping her friend in a hug despite of her whining, "I know it will be pretty hard to live without Justin, but you have to understand. This is good for his future. He can get a good job if he goes to college."

_Okay. So Harper was going to be no help. Why was she even expecting evil ideas from Harper? Of all people? _

She nodded after pretending to think for a few moments, to make it look believable. (_Evil genius, huh?) _"Maybe you're right Harper. I… I'll just go get ready for school."

* * *

And _of course_ Harper talked about Zeke's college choices throughout the ride in the subway. Justin listened intently, interacting with her, and correcting her on the technical details at many instances. Alex frowned the whole time, annoyed to hear conversation on her least favorite topic, and disappointed to realize that Justin's quest to pick the perfect college had already begun.

"What college have you decided on, Justin?" Harper finally popped the question.

Alex's ears perked up, and she held her breath.

"I haven't decided yet." Justin said sadly.

A grin spread on Alex's lips.

_Okay. So maybe she did have some time in her hand. _

* * *

She spent the first period carefully listing down all the things she could do to make Justin stay. (_Yes, Alex Russo was making lists. Go ahead. Make fun of her. But what else could she do with so many evil ideas in her mind?)_

**One. Scare him about going to college. **

"What if you end up becoming like that duplicate of yours?" she asked him in the first break between classes. (_What classes? Don't ask. Unless you want to plan the guessing game.) _

"It was a duplicate." He said in annoyance. "I am the real one. I wouldn't change like him."

* * *

**Two. Make him feel homesick. **

"I am not going to sit down with mom and listen to her cry for you _every day_." She told him during the next break.

He smiled softly at her. "Don't worry about it. I'll talk to her every day and make sure she's alright."

* * *

**Three. Make him worried about her random usage of magic. **

She pulled her wand out of her boot and aimed it at her locker, chanting a spell and making a cup-cake appear- all of this in front of a hall full of people.

"Alex!" he hissed, glancing around everywhere to make sure no one noticed. "What are you doing?"

"Getting a cup-cake?" she replied indifferently, tucking her wand back into her boot.

"You cannot use _magic_ like that!" He scolded, whispering the word 'magic'.

She groaned. "Ugh. I can't wait for you to go away to college. I am _so_ going to use magic freely after that."

"You wouldn't." he replied smugly, a teasing smirk in his face. "Because you know I won't be there to get you out of trouble… Contrary to your beliefs Alex, I think your inconsiderate exploitation of magic will end after I go to college."

* * *

**Four. Go out with a bad boy and make him worried. **

She spent the entire lunch break working on her plan- she flicked her hair, laughed out loud, talked with Harper at the top of your voice, yet, no guy even noticed her.

Just great! Suddenly she became…. _Non-date-able? _

A guy did come up to talk to her, some dude named Jack, or Mack, or something (_who cares?), _and she did talk to him happily, like she was actually interested in him.

Justin did notice, glancing at her every few minutes, and he surely didn't look very happy about it. But he maintained his calmness and self-control- no glares were sent in her direction.

After ten minutes of tolerating that dude's bad breath, and seeing no over-protective, possessive reaction in Justin, she finally gave up on this idea as well.

* * *

**Five. Make him worried about her studies. **

While walking past him, her test result 'accidentally' slipped out of her hands. She panicked (_Pssh. Acting.),_ bending down to pick it up immediately, but he was too fast. Oh no! (_Oh yes!)_

"Great marks." He said sarcastically.

She shrugged. "It is. My marks are going to drop after you go to college. Who's going to force me to study after that?"

Again, that smug, know-it-all look appeared in his face. "Oh I get it. You're doing this so that I don't go to college."

"What! No!" she scoffed, trying to play it casual. "Like I care about you going to college."

He smirked victoriously, and ruffled her hair on the way to his next class. "Quit it Alex. It's not going to work."

_How the heck did he figure out? _

_Okay. Maybe she mentioned college too many times. Yup, she used too many plans on the same day. Should have waited, Alex._

_What? Gosh, even the worst of criminals make mistakes! And she's just a little girl!_

* * *

On Wednesday evening, she sat down in her room, going over her list again. Yup, all her plans were definitely going to fail.

A bit of fear and a bit of desperation settled in the pit of her stomach. Was Justin really going to go away from her?

She grabbed her cell phone and speed dialed Harper's number, deciding that talking to her will make her feel better. Harper's phone went on voicemail.

_Wow, today was such a lucky day for Alex! No extra points for sarcasm?_

Alex groaned in frustration. Nothing was going in her favor. Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!

"ALEX!" Justin's scream came from downstairs.

Alex grinned. _Finally. _

**

* * *

**

**(A/N: Another cliffhanger! :P Two cookies to anyone who can guess why Justin screamed XD Review please! I'd love to know if you think I am doing well outside my comfort zone of angst. lol.)**

**P.S. - Happy Independence day USA! **


	5. Ch 4: Confronting her feelings

**Disclaimer: I do not own the song.  
**

**Warning: A bit of T-ish stuff. *grin*

* * *

**

**Chapter 4: confronting her feelings**

_Why is this loneliness?_

_Explain this to me!_

_Give me some reason!_

_Someone has started coming to my dreams every moment, _

_Someone is travelling with me in every breath..._

_Is this love? I don't know..._

_Is this love? someone tell me!"_

_-"Is this love/kahin na laage mann" from "Kismat Konnection_

"ALEX!" Justin's screams got louder as he stormed up the stairs. (_A wizard who didn't use magic to teleport! Why did he want to be the family wizard again?)_

He opened the door with a loud bang, not even bothering to knock.

She gasped in fake surprise. "Justin! I thought you were the one who insisted on knocking."

He glared at her, gritting his teeth, and closed the door behind him, locking it. (_That was not really a good thing, considering all the stupid images in her mind.)_

"Where did you hide them, Alex?" He demanded fiercely, almost growling.

"Hide what?" she asked innocently, her evil grin widening.

His glare intensified and his hands formed into fists. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, trying to remain calm. (_What! She did all this to make him mad, and he tries to stay calm? This is totally not fair!)_

"I want my wallet and my watch back, Alex." He said sternly.

She smiled, satisfied, and settled more comfortably on her bed, propping her legs right in the direction of his face. "Take a seat." She offered sweetly.

It took the last of his self control to not let out a scream right then and there. He sat down on her bed, keeping as much distance from her as possible.

"I am disappointed in you, Justin." She said in a gloomy tone, digging her nails. "What took you so long to figure out that those were gone?"

"When did you even steal them?" he asked incredulously.

She grinned her trademark victory grin. "A thief never gives account of her crime…"

He stared at her in disbelief, blinked a few times, and then stared at her again. (_Blah. This is boring. How about some action? No, not _that_ kind of action! You guys! She means some fighting!)_

He finally let out a sigh of defeat. "What do you want Alex?"

_Boo. It's never fun when he gives in that easily. _

She placed her legs in his lap, pressing her toes onto his stomach.

"Alex." He warned, but his tone was different that she thought it would be.

_Oh. So this thing had a _different_ effect on him than she wanted… something about some hormone… test-something or jest-something…whatever. As long as it's torturing him._

She ignored him, and placed her demand in front of him. "I want you to take me shopping tomorrow."

He scoffed, "Why will I take you shopping?"

"Umm, because I have your wallet with me and I can use up all your money?" she shot back, and as an afterthought, added, "that is if I _already_ haven't used it up."

His eyes widened in alarm and fear. "You wouldn't! You still owe me 400 dollars for rescuing you from that dollhouse."

She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Back to topic, Justin. You are taking me shopping tomorrow."

He scoffed again. "Don't you usually go shopping with Harper?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, but Harper is going shopping with Zeke. I have no one to take me."

He narrowed his eyes, studying her face suspiciously. "Why do you want me to come along when you already have my wallet?"

She grinned. "I do need someone to carry **all the stuff** I will buy."

From the sound of her voice, he knew no good would come from this. But could he do anything to stop her? In the end, Alex **always** gets what she wants. _Oldest rule of the rulebook._

"Fine." He finally gave in, trying to get up and away from the devil.

She kicked his stomach with her feet and placed him back down with the weight of her legs.

"Alex." He warned again, but this time, his voice was not at all threatening.

_Hmm… interesting. _

Deciding to explore the full prospects of her new found torture technique; she curled her toes and pressed them more firmly against his stomach, the back of her feet touching his spot.

With all his effort, he stifled the groan. Knowing verbal commands would be useless, he decided to get rid of her himself. Grabbing her feet with his hands, he lifted them off his lap, and tickled her calves lightly.

This time, it was her turn to stop her mouth from making an embarrassing noise. _He could do that to her? He was _doing that_ back_ _to her?_

He smirked at her, enjoying the sudden turn of tables.

She glared at him. (_Payback is such a bitch!)_ "I hate you Justin."

"Music to my ears." He grinned, placing her legs back on the bed. "I'd like my stuff back now."

She shook her head firmly (_Time to mess with him)_. "You will get them tomorrow."

He stared at her in disbelief. _(Why has he been staring at her so much lately?)_

Without any other word, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Alex grinned. Tomorrow was going to be such a great day!

* * *

On Thursday morning, Alex found herself at the breakfast table, shooting mischievous smiles at Justin, and receiving threatening glares from him, their feet engaged in their usual kicking.

"So, what are you kids doing today?" Theresa asked. (_Of course Alex scrunched up her nose at the word 'kid'. Duh!)_

"I am going to be working on a new experiment." Max announced enthusiastically.

"I am going shopping with Zeke!" Harper practically squealed.

Jerry and Theresa looked at each other, and shook their head.

"Be home before curfew, Harper." Theresa instructed gently, even though she knew Harper didn't need to be reminded of the rules. "So… Justin, Alex, how are you guys planning to spend your evenings?"

"Umm… I…." Justin stuttered, suddenly unsure whether he should speak.

"I am spending my evening torturing Justin." Alex announced. "And he is spending his evening being tortured."

Theresa shrugged. That was pretty normal.

"We'd be back home before curfew." Justin promised.

Theresa shrugged again. There was no need to worry about Alex as long as she was with Justin.

* * *

On Thursday evening, Alex dragged her brother to the shopping mall. _Literally_.

"So…. What are you planning to buy?" Justin asked nervously, glancing around the mall and looking at all the clothing.

Alex grinned. "You'll see."

And he saw. He saw a lot of things. A lot of shirts and tops and blouses, all thrown over his shoulder in a heap, as he followed her to the trail room/dressing room.

Justin huffed. "Such few clothes?"

She threw a few more tops at him. (_She did not ask for sarcasm.)_

She opened the door, got in, grabbed one top from him, and shut the door.

Two minutes later, the door opened again.

"What do you think of this?" Alex asked, whirling around to display her top properly.

He scoffed. "You want fashion advice from _me_?"

"Well since you are here, you might as well make yourself useful." She snarled at him.

He spread his arms wider, displaying the pile of clothes on them. _Silent reply, huh?_

"Just tell me how it is!" she whined impatiently.

He studied her for a few seconds, and shrugged. "Well, it looks kind of cute."

"I am buying it then." She announced, grabbing another top and closing the door again.

"Look at the price tag first!" He yelled, getting no response from her, "Alex!"

He shook his head in defeat. Why did he even expect Alex to go easy on him?

"Excuse me." He heard a voice from behind him, and when he turned around, his jaw nearly dropped open.

_Holy freak. Was a hot chick talking to __him_?

"Hi…." He muttered, smiling nervously. "Can I help you?"

Alex's ears perked up at his voice. She dropped the top in her hand, pressed her ears to the door and listened intently.

"Yeah." The chick replied, biting her lip. "I am kind of new here, so… I was wondering if you could help me find the jean rack."

Justin's breath hitched. _Was he dreaming? _"I-"

"-Can't." Alex cut him off, slamming her door open. "He's kind of busy helping me."

"Yeah, but I am sure I could still help her… right Alex?" he pleaded desperately, begging her with his eyes.

She shook her head, glaring at him, and then at the girl.

By that time, the girl had already started backing away. "I am so sorry… I didn't realize you already had a girlfriend. I'll just…. go see where the jean rack is!" she ran off, intimidated by Alex's deadly glare. (_People really underestimate her glaring skills.)_

"What no, she isn't my-"Justin protested, but too late- she was already gone. He frowned, not at all amused by the loss of such a _catch. _"Why did you drive her away?" He grumbled.

"Why were you hitting on her?" she snapped, storming out of the dressing room and towards the cash counter.

"What! You wouldn't even try these on?" Justin yelled behind her back.

"No. you are buying me **everything." **she yelled back. "Serves you right." (_How dare he flirts with such a cheap girl?)_

He sighed, silently following her. Today was SO not his day.

* * *

After ten minutes of walking home silently, two heavy bags in his hands, an empty wallet and a broken watch in his pocket, he finally grew tired of this silent treatment.

"Alex!" he yelled, running a few steps to catch up with her. "Wait for me."

She looked away with a huff, not wanting to talk to him.

"Still mad at me?" he asked, nudging her gently with his elbow.

She moved away from him. _(Hello! Not the best time to be playful!)_

"Alex." He sighed, dropping the bags to his side, grabbing her arm forcefully and making her stop and look at him. "Why are we fighting?"

_True. Why were they fighting? Why was she mad if her brother wanted to date a girl? It's not like he never dated before!_

"Why are you acting so possessive?" he asked again.

"I am not acting possessive!" she hissed, stomping her feet. _Which was exactly what she did every time she was lying. _

He raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her answer.

She looked down at the ground, sighing in defeat. "_It's totally Harper's fault! _She's made me feel all weird ever since she started dating Zeke. I hate sharing her with Zeke…. I… I don't want to share you with anyone, Justin."

He squeezed her arms lightly, smiling at her in a reassuring way. "Alex, you don't have to be scared of losing me… we'll never drift apart?"

"Promise?" she asked, cringing when her voice came off as childish and timid. _(Stupid voice! Why do you have to betray her all the time?)_

He nodded his head, still smiling, as he engulfed her in a comforting hug. "Promise."

* * *

On Thursday night, Alex found herself in Justin's bed, thinking. She could sense that there was a difference between missing Harper and missing Justin. It just wasn't the same. For Harper, she would be happy if she could to spend a few hours with her. For Justin?

_Well, she wanted him all for herself. _

Alex buried her head in her hands and groaned. Why was she thinking about her brother? Why was she feeling this way about him? (_What is 'this way'? she is not sure either.) _Why were his touches turning her on? And why the heck was she in his bed at midnight?

"What are you doing here?" he asked in amazement, freezing at his door as soon as he caught sight of her. (_Newsflash. That's exactly what she's been wondering!)_

"I am going to sleep. Get out!" he snarled.

"Get out." she mimicked, making a face at him. (_Like it was that easy?) _

He sighed, shook his head, closed the door, and sat down on his bed. Alex raised an eyebrow, studying him curiously.

**With his fingertips, he drew an invisible line between them, on the bed-sheet. **"This is my side, and that is yours. Stay within your limit. **Don't cross the line." **

With that, he turned on the night light and slumped down on his bed, clutching his Captain Jim Bob Sherwood action figure close to his chest. _(What? She already knew he slept with that!)_

Alex looked at him, watching his face glow in the dim light, his eyes closed peacefully (_how can he sleep peacefully knowing his evil sister is right next to him?), _a faint smile on his lips… his lips…. His _kissable_ lips.

Her eyes widened and her heart stopped beating, as she finally realized what she wanted. She wanted him? _Justin? _Really? Her nose automatically scrunched up in dork-disgust, even as she licked her lips.

Fine. Alex wanted Justin. And Alex always gets what she wants. (_Yup, oldest rule of the rulebook.)_

**Finally feeling sure about her feelings, she gathered all her courage, crossing the line he drew between them (**_**symbolic much?) **_**and hugging him tightly. **

He stiffened for a few moments, and she allowed herself to panic. _(A simple hug can't harm things… right?)_ Finally, he sighed and put his action figure (_it's totally a doll!) _aside, and hugged her back.

"Goodnight Alex." He mumbled sleepily.

"Goodnight." She whispered back, not feeling a slightest bit tired. _(Now she understood why Harper couldn't sleep.)_

Fine. So she was kind of, sort of falling for Justin. What's wrong with that?

_Wait. Don't answer that. _

Alex squeezed him tightly, as if that would squeeze all her incestuous thoughts away. Suddenly, the "off-limits" sign taped at Justin's back had fallen off, and she didn't even notice when that happened!

She had never felt this way about Justin (_or maybe she never realized she did?) _until Harper started dating Zeke.

_Ugh. This was totally her best friend's fault!_

* * *

(A/N: long chapter. Story progresses. Things get serious... Did you like it? PLEASE REVIEW!)

**Question: **I have a black keyboard with white letters, and the letters are wearing off. Any idea/suggestion on how I can put in the letters on the keys? It's getting harder and harder to type… :|


	6. Ch 5: Cuddly slash annoying

**Disclaimer: I do not own wowp or the song at the beginning. Ugh, it's so annoying to listen to mushy songs and translate them. Lyrics like "I breathe for you" make me scrunch up my nose. Plus, translating… let's just say my Hindi teachers would have freaked out at how horrible I keep getting at it :P**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Cuddly slash annoying**

"_Morning arrives. _

_My eyes ask me who was in my dreams last night._

_It was totally your effect…_

_You are my partner now…_

_When my heart comes somewhere else,_

_I take a while or two to make myself understand._

_Hearts have some relation with hearts._

_My heart repeats- I am in love with you."_

_-An approximate translation of _

"_Mohabbat aapse" from "Aa dekhe zaara."_

* * *

On Friday morning, she woke up to the blaring of his alarm, groaning. (_She fell asleep without turning off his alarm? Really? Congratulations Alex. Love is messing up all your actions.) _

"Justin." She whined, burying her face further into his chest. "Shut your alarm clock up!"

He obeyed, groaning as well, and rubbed his forehead. "Hmm, good morning." He mumbled, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

She chuckled sleepily. "It's not morning for me yet, Mr. Nerd." (_Yeah. Alex can be snarky from early in the morning. Pretty impressive, huh?)_

"Hmm…" he sighed, pulling her closer to him. "We've got school today… sleepyhead."

"Bring up school just when I wake up? Really Justin?" she whined groggily.

He grinned, covering his mouth with his hand and yawning silently. "I am going to have so much fun at school today. They are gonna teach….. _blah blah blah blah blah."_

_Would he shut up if she kissed him? _

She slammed her hand over his mouth, silencing him. "Justin, just stop talking."

He yanked her hand away, annoyed, and pushed her aside gently, sitting up on the bed.

She grabbed his pillow and buried her face in it.

"Come on Alex." He persisted, pulling the covers off her. "Get up before anyone gets here… don't you care about your anti-Justin reputation? You don't want them to know that you were sleeping with me, do you?"

_Right. They must definitely not know that she is getting along with her brother. __(They must definitely not know she is falling for him.)_

"Two more minutes." She pleaded, whining.

He sighed, shaking his head in defeat (_Justin is just too easy!), _and climbed up beside her, gently ruffling her hair. "I am gonna get the water bucket now." He warned, grinning.

She scoffed, ignoring his threat. (_And what exactly made him think ruffling her hair was a good way to wake her up? Wasn't that supposed to put her to sleep?)_

He glanced at his bed-side table, observing the glass of water. _Well, a bucket would have made his bed wet anyways. _He picked up the glass, aiming it in the right angle, ready to pour all its contents over her head.

She just slapped her hand aimlessly, making the water fall on him, the glass rolling to the floor and breaking. (_What? He is totally predictable. It's not like she is so in love with him that she uses magic to read his thoughts!) _

"Alex!" he yelled, jumping up from his bed.

She turned her head to catch a glimpse of her art. Satisfied to see his shirt wet, she sat up, stretching. "Goooooood morning, Justin." she purred happily. (_She got to annoy Justin early in the morning. Yeah. This morning was so turning out pretty good.) _

She placed her legs on the floor, and got up.

"Careful!" he yelped, pushing her back down on the bed. "Don't hurt your feet! The floor is filled with pieces of glass… Thanks a lot Alex."

And before she could shoot back some nasty remark-

"**What was that noise and yelling**?" Theresa yelled, storming into Justin's room, and freezing as she saw Alex. "Oh. So Alex is here." She muttered, placing her hands on her hips. "And I was wondering why something would break in _Justin's _room."

Alex crossed her arms, frowning. "This was totally Justin's fault. I was just defending myself…"

Theresa looked at the ground, observing the tiny pieces of glass that she would have to search for from all corners of the room and then clean up. (_Admit it, you totally wanted them to use magic to clean up the mess!)_

"This is not a good sign." Theresa said sadly, shaking her head. "Breaking of glass brings in bad luck."

Justin chuckled, patting her back comfortingly. "Don't worry mom… it's a superstition. It's not scientific." He assured, walking out of his room.

Alex shrugged non-chalantly, getting up and tiptoeing out of the room. (_When you are in love with your brother, you don't need a glass to break to bring you bad luck.)_

* * *

On Friday morning, the breakfast passed with her mother scolding her for always destroying Justin's things (_Oh come on! One glass isn't that expensive!) _and her zoning out on most (_all)_ of it. Instead, she focused her mind on her feelings, deciding to think about it. Thinking was _so not_ her thing, but she had to think about all the possibilities and all the consequences. (_Thirty minutes of thinking is enough to take important decisions about your life, right?)_

By the end of it, her conclusion was this: It didn't matter if Justin liked her or not. She liked him. And he was going to be hers. Period. (_Since when did Justin have a say over what she wanted?) _

* * *

On the ride in the subway, she rested her head on his shoulder, pretending to be sleepy and titled her head to watch his reaction. He glared at her in annoyance, but looked away without any protest.

She sighed in relief, wrapping her arms around his chest.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked, amidst all the noise of the subway, surprised by such her unusual behavior.

She nodded silently.

(_How the heck was she supposed to be alright when she was this close to him? This stupid heart was going to explode if it didn't stop beating SO fast!)_

* * *

Of course she still didn't brother to pay attention in her class. She was not going to impress Justin by taking interest in education. _No. Freaking. Way. _

Harper sat behind her, listening intently and taking down the notes. _What happened to Zeke daydreaming?_

She regretted even bringing up the question, but it was too late.

"Oh don't worry Alex. Everything is fine between me and Zeke. He and I are going out on a date… _blah blah blah blah blah._" Harper chirped happily. "I am just trying to pay attention in class so that I can get into the same college with him."

_Right… _

_Oh well, she can totally make Justin skip college alongside her. _

* * *

On the ride back home, Justin and Harper started discussing about some geek thing. She rested her head on his shoulder again, trying to sleep on their boring conversation. This time, he placed an arm around her, pulling her closer to him.

(_And now they start acting like those cuddly couples in the subway that she totally hated. Oh great!)_

* * *

During dinner, Jerry asked the four kids to work extra shifts at the substation.

"I'm sorry Mr. Russo, but I can't." Harper apologized. (_Here comes the Zeke talk.)_ "I promised Zeke I would go out with him." (_Ha_! _Told you!)_

"Alex and I can't, either, dad." Justin apologized as well. "We already made plans to hang out tomorrow."

The four other people gasped instantly. _(And they call her rude, huh?)_

"Alex, is it true? You are hanging out with your brother?" Theresa asked. Her eyes lit up hopefully.

Alex nodded, sighing sadly. "I know. Sometimes life makes you do such low things, huh?"

"Oh Jerry did you hear that?" Theresa cooed enthusiastically. "Our kids are finally getting along!"

"I know! We are good parents!" he replied, almost on the verge of breaking down and crying. "Excuse me."

_Ugh. What an over-dramatic family!_

"So… what are you guys planning to do tomorrow?" Theresa asked, serving extra meat to her eldest.

"Movie."

"Pizza."

They announced together, paused, and then turned their heads to look at each other. _(Does she need to spell it to you that they are going to fight now?)_

"Justin. We are getting pizza tomorrow." She replied calmly.

"Alex. We are watching a silent movie." He replied sternly.

"But you know I hate silent movies!" she protested, frowning.

"I already bought tickets!"

"What! You took the decision without even consulting me?"

"You are the one who told me to make plans!"

"I never said I want Mr. Dork to make plans for my weekend! You are the one who offered to hang out together."

"Well you were the one whining about how you feel when-" he stopped, deciding against repeating her words out loud, not wanting to hurt Harper's feelings. _(Aww. Isn't he so sweet? Ew. Someone save her from diabetes.) _

"How about you guys watch the movie and then grab the pizza?" Harper tried solving the 'big problem'.

Justin pursed his lips together, thinking. "That is actually a good idea… what do you think Alex?"

"I am sleeping during the movie." She announced, smacking his shoulder and stealing his food.

Justin sighed, returning his attention to his dinner.

Theresa smiled at them, relieved that a fight could be avoided… well, for the time being. "We are just glad that you two are finally getting along."

They both shrugged non-chalantly.

(_Her stomach was totally not churching with guilt.)_

_

* * *

_

[A/N: everything's better in my life right now, (prayers can work magic) So here you go, an update. Hope you like this. **Please review!** Things will get totally jalexy in the next two chapters. XD]


	7. Ch 6: Benefits and guilt

Disclaimer: I do not own WOWP

A/N: this chapter is very short. It is a filler chapter. I thought this needed to be there before I move into the whole hanging out together thing.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Benefits and guilt**

On Friday night, she sat down on her bed, with her best friend, talking and chatting about their week.

_If only she knew that for Harper, week meant Zeke. (Hey, that rhymed! See, she's a natural)_

Her friend began talking about aliens and science and fur and needles. She didn't even realize when she zoned out on her '_sister'_ and drifted off to sleep, to dreams….

* * *

"**Stand still!" A cold voice hissed in her ears, making her blood curdle. Who was that? Where was she?**

**Alex looked around, to see herself in a living room… **_**her**_** living room.**

"**This is your last chance, young lady." Theresa said coldly, the whip ready in her hand. "Tell me what you were doing in Justin's room this morning."**

"**I won't." Alex snapped, pulling on the ropes restraining her hands, but in no success.**

**Theresa glared at her coldly. "Harper."**

**Harper smiled, standing in front of her. "And then, Zeke told me that I am as colorful as the rainbow, and as cute as a penguin! Isn't that the sweetest thing ever?"**

**Alex whined, unable to take the torture anymore. "Harper stop, please."**

"**Then he took me on a tour to Planet YYTFFF in his private space ship. We met green-colored, bubble-headed space aliens there. And I made them all my favorite chicken dress!" Harper squealed.**

**Alex groaned, stomping her feet. "Ugh! Mom! This is all Harper's fault… she's been talking about Zeke all week. She's the only who's made me feel this way about Justin!"**

* * *

On Saturday, also known as her sleep-till-it's-Sunday day, she shot up, sweating and panting.

_Okay… so that was a dream?_

She glanced at her clock and noticed that it was already 10 a.m.

_What? Her mother didn't come up to her room to shout and yell at her like she usually does? _

Alex gasped. _If she knew getting along Justin had these benefits, she would have so blackmailed him to convince their parents that they were getting along!_

The only thing bothering her? Her dream. _Alex Russo was not supposed to feel guilty._

A snort across the room caught her attention.

"Oh look who's awake!" Justin teased, getting up from her study desk, walking towards the door and leaning against her doorframe, smirking. (_No, not him! Not after that dream!)_

"Watching your sister sleep?" she snarled, fixing him with a deadly glare. (_She could still do that at least. Good.)_

"I don't sleep in my brother's room at night." He shot back, glaring right back at her.

"What do you want?" she demanded angrily, throwing her covers away and getting up abruptly. (_Way to ruin her mood by bringing back the guilt. Thanks Justin.) _

He chuckled, shoving his hands into his pocket and walking back towards her.

_Right… so he's not leaving that easily. Fine. _

"Do you _really_ want me to me to mess with you early in the morning?" she asked, putting on her evil grin, and praying that would scare him. (_It always does, usually when accompanied by a wand in her hand.)_

"Oh please, I am begging you." He replied sarcastically, grinning. "And by the way, it's _afternoon, _sleeping beauty."

She sighed, sinking down on her bed in defeat. _(Note to self: sneaky ideas won't come to your mind if you keep having nightmares like this.) _"Not now, please…" she begged, rubbing her forehead with her hands. _Gosh the dreams are messing her up!_

"I just came here to tell you to get ready by 2. I don't wanna be late for the movie." He announced, walking out of the door.

_Oh… Right. _

She grabbed her covers and sank back to her bed, setting her alarm for 12 noon. (_What? She needed her beauty sleep! She was willing to take bets that she had dark circles in her eyes at that moment… she cant be seen outside the house looking that horrible!)_

This time though, sleep wasn't coming so easily. (_Think of science Alex, that always works.) _This time, her mind was filled with excitement and anticipation, fear and hopes, plans and inhibitions, love and guilt….

_Oh my gosh! She was going to hang out with Justin!_

* * *

(A/N: thought I should add Alex's feelings before the whole thing. There will be more details in the next chapter though. Next update on this story will be a while later. I need the next chapter to be awesome and lengthy… Please review and tell me if you liked this.)


	8. Ch 7: Get rid of the third wheel

**Disclaimer: I do not own WOWP... i am the only person I know that gets along really well with the person who is the crush of the person she loves... please tell me I am learning to twist words and make everything sound confusing?  
**

**Chapter 7: Get rid of the third wheel**

* * *

_*Thud*_

_*Thud*_

Alex rolled over in her bed, groaning, as the annoying noise began to disturb her peaceful sleep. It was (_only) _11 a.m., and she still had one more hour to sleep. (_She REALLY needs to learn a spell to turn all days into Saturdays and Sundays.)_

_*Thud*_

_*Thud*_

The noise continued, not showing any signs of stopping. Alex sat up on her bed in a fit of anger, kicked the covers on to the floor with her legs, and stormed up to the door, opening it in one harsh swing to find her little brother, standing with a ball in his hand, ready to throw it at her door.

Max jumped backwards in surprise, yelping in panic. The ball slipped out of his hand, and dropped right on his left foot.

"Ouch" Max yelped again, sinking down on the floor and clutching his wounded foot with his hand. "Hey Alex." He greeted, smiling at her nervously.

Alex narrowed her eyes in annoyance, crossing her arms in front of her chest- the same 'older sibling' look that Justin gave her every time she messed with him.

"What made you think that waking me up is a good idea?" she asked darkly.

Max chuckled. "What? No. I wasn't trying to wake you up. I was just playing with my ball and your door. And _your door _kept making stupid noises. I thought it was you banging on the door from the other side… haha."

Alex stared at him in disbelief. Did she even want to take revenge on him? Wasn't his stupidity enough of a punishment in itself? "Max." she growled, unable to think of anything else to do (_Ugh. Beauty sleep is ruined) _and slammed the door right in his face, not even in the mood to take revenge.

_*Thud*_

_*Thud*_

_*Thud*_

(_Don't ask what she did to Max this time.)_

_

* * *

_

At 12 a.m. she sat down to eat lunch with her family.

"So… you guys are going to grab dinner outside, right?" their mother asked her.

Alex nodded. "Of course, mom. Why would I miss a chance of spending Justin's money?"

Justin scoffed. "What made you think I am using _my_ money? Mom said dad would pay for the dinner, right dad?"

Jerry opened his mouth to protest, but Theresa silenced him with just a glare.

"Sure, Justin." Jerry replied, smiling. "Whatever your mother says."

(_Oh. She can't wait to wrap Justin around her little finger like this…oh wait. She already DOES have him wrapped around her finger. Why else would he wear a suit because she asked him to? Pfft.)_

* * *

After lunch, she went back up to her room to get ready. Being Alex and being lazy, she hadn't taken the time and picked the clothes yet. She had no idea what she should wear to make herself look **perfectly stunning**. (_Great, now she becomes a perfection-freak like Justin!)_

Rummaging through her closet, she flung her clothes far and wide into all nooks and corners of her room. (_Hey, Justin would have fun cleaning her room. It has been such a long time. Two weeks!)_ She finally picked five dresses, and decided to try all of them on. (_Using magic of course, duh!)_

As she looked at her reflection in the mirror, carefully observing how she looked, how much skin the dress showed. She wasn't going for a revealing dress. She was actually looking for something that would make her look beautiful, yet covered. The last thing she needed to do was make Justin uncomfortable in front of a hundred people.

Once she was dressed, she began working on her hair and make-up, making sure they matched with her outfit.

**Throughout the whole time, she kept reminding herself: this was not a date. He didn't '**_**ask her out'**_**… this meant nothing to him. But she was going to make it mean something. She was going to make this day special for him.**

"ALEX! WOULD YOU JUST COME DOWN ALREADY?" He yelled from downstairs.

That snapped her out of her trance, and she glanced at her clock to see that it was 2.05 already.

"WOULD IT HURT YOUR WEAK LITTLE LIMBS IF YOU WAIT A LITTLE LONGER?" She yelled back just as snarkily.

_Of course they were shouting at each other. They weren't the perfect Disney Prince-Princess going on a perfectly romantic movie!_

She grabbed her purse, her cell phone and her ipod. (_What? She needed something to do while Justin watched the silent movie.)_ She checked herself at the mirror one last time, before walking out of her room.

Her heart was beating fast, her breathing swift, as she took the steps towards him. (_Add some cheesy background music, and you get a totally sappy movie.)_

**She reminded herself that he wasn't going to hold out his hand for her, and lead her out of the house, like Zeke always did for Harper. He wasn't going to smile sweetly at her, complimenting her on how great she looked, either. But when he would see her, his jaw was going to HANG open. **

She skipped down the steps happily. "Ok, I'm here. Come on Justin."

Justin gulped, his eyes admiring her beauty. He quickly recollected himself (_So what? At least he's starting to snap!) _and sent a pointed look in the direction of the clock. (_What? Like he really didn't know she would be late?)_ He sighed, shaking his head. "Come on Max."

_Wait…. Max?_

She stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening in alarm. "Max is coming with us?" she asked skeptically.

"Oh. We forgot to mention, honey." Theresa interrupted quickly. "But your little brother was feeling very bad about being left alone at home… so I thought you should take him with you."

_Of course it was her mother's idea! Who else can pour water on her perfect plan like that? _

"But Maxie", she began quickly. "Didn't you saw you wanted to work on… on… ummm…" (_Ugh! She should start listening to people more if she wanted to manipulate them!) _

Max shrugged. "No. I wanna hang out with you guys too." He said proudly, walking towards the main exit.

When he didn't trip on her leg and fall, she knew it was going to be a hard job to get rid of him.

Theresa cooed at her babies, telling them how proud she was that they were getting along (_Ugh. Don't wake up now, guilt_!), hugging them all tightly, and fumbling through the apartment to find her camera. _(Ha! Of course Alex already took care of it. She totally saw this coming.) _

Justin and Max spent the whole time glancing at each other, sighing, while Harper did not waste a single minute in starting her Zeke talk. _(Why do you need to talk about your boyfriend all the time?)_

Finally, Justin was able to convince their mother that they were getting late, and they were finally able to get out of the apartment. (_Phew!)_

* * *

During the walk to the movie theater, she understood that it would be impossible to talk to Justin in front of Max. Even though they ignored Max their entire lives and always focused on each other, it just wasn't possible to do it at that moment. This was…. _different. _

So, yeah, her plans for the walk were totally ruined. (_And Max was getting cockroaches on his next birthday.)_

By the time they reached the theater, with Max talking about some comic all the while and capturing Justin's attention (_and holding it! How dare he!)_, she was convinced that she **had to **get rid of the third wheel. (_No problem for Alex Russo!)_

* * *

"Okay Max. I've got a ticket for you. We were lucky that the seat next to us was empty." Justin announced smugly.

Alex scoffed. "Please. All seats are going to be empty. Nobody watches silent movies on a Saturday afternoon… except grandma, maybe?"

Justin glared at her, frowning.

"Grandma is joining us too?" Max asked in excitement. "Awesome!"

_Yupe. She definitely had to get rid of him if she wanted to fight with Justin. Or to save her brain and forehead from hurting. _

"Come on." Justin said, gesturing at the entrance.

Alex looked around frantically. She needed to find something **quickly! **Her lips curved upwards in an evil grin, as she caught sight of something.

"Hey Maxie." She asked, putting her arms around him. "Don't you wanna watch Iceberg 5?"

Max scoffed. "Alex, I am too old for watching animal movies… I am gonna go watch a movie with you guys."

Alex leant in closer to his ear, whispering softly. "I hear they are giving away free ice-cream."

"Free ice-cream?" Max asked enthusiastically. "Justin, I'm gonna go watch Iceberg 5."

_Ha, old tricks never fail!_

Justin scoffed. "Max, dude, you don't have a ticket."

"Would you just let me manipulate him?" Alex hissed into his ear.

"Stop sabotaging our little brother!" he hissed back.

"Ticket for what?" Max asked blankly.

"Or not." Justin mumbled under his breath, before turning to Max with a sweet smile. "You know what Max, never mind. Let me just go arrange you a _seat in a theatre." _

Max chuckled. "You don't need to do that. That's what those guys holding the torches are for. They will show you the way to your seats."

Alex snickered.

Justin shook his head, exhaling with his mouth in exasperation. (_Well, it IS kind of sad that their kid brother is dumb...)_ "Just wait here!"

* * *

Once Justin bought Max a proper ticket and he was seated at "Iceberg 5", Justin and Alex finally headed to theirs, Justin grumbling about missing a good 15 minutes.

"Oh please! As if you haven't watched that movie 15 times before!" Alex scoffed, glaring at him, as she took her seat in the last row.

"Geez. Great seat choice, Justin", she mumbled sarcastically, "Especially when almost the whole theatre is empty and you could have got _any_ seat."

"What are you talking about?" Justin scoffed, sitting down beside her, at the dark corner. "If you had taken geometrical optics more seriously, you would have known that the position of the screen and the angle of this seat makes it the most suitable place for watching the movie… don't tell me you don't like sitting at the back! Aren't you _always_ sitting at the back of the class?"

Alex stared at him incredulously. (_He didn't get it? Really? And he gets a 99% in reasoning! She should totally get an A in Math!)_

"We are lucky we got these seats." He ranted on. "Usually these are booked by those cuddly couples who like to sit in the last row of empty theatres, away from everyone else, and make out."

Even in the darkness, she could see his eyes grow wide in realization. (_NOW he gets it.) _He turned to face her, his eyes filled with panic. "You know I didn't-"

"-I know." She cut him off.

_Of course __**he**__ didn't want to sit at the back of the theatre and make-out with his sibling. _

_**She did. **_

_(And NOW she found something to do while Justin watched the boring movie.)_

_**

* * *

**_

(A/N: you guys reviewed, I updated fast. :) did you like this? You can see where this is going... XD Who's excited for the next chapter? **Please review**!)


	9. Ch 8: Savor every second of it

**Disclaimer: I do not own wowp or the song in the beginning. Don't be offended by the things I wrote about silent movies. I thought they fit in perfectly for Alex. Those aren't my beliefs. **

**Warning: again, a bit T-ish. *grin***

**

* * *

Chapter 8: Savor every second of it**

"_Right here, right now…_

_I'm looking at you and my heart loves the view,_

'_Cause you mean everything._

_Right here, I promise you somehow,_

_That tomorrow can wait, to some other day to be._

_But right now there's you and me."_

_-Right now it's me and you, High School Musical 3_

Alex looked at Justin, his face visible because of the light from the screen. He was watching the movie with _such_ interest, _such_ concentration, with _such_ a huge grin on his lips… his lips… his perfectly kissable lips that she wanted to kiss. (_He better not need 17 attempts for their first kiss, unless he wanted a lifetime of teasing.)_

She wrapped her arms around his torso and rested her head on his shoulder. (_And why is Justin wearing cologne?)_

He titled his head to the side to look at her. "What are you _doing_?"

"What does it look like I am doing? Trying to sleep?" she replied, rolling her eyes. (_Actually, trying to cuddle with Justin. shhh!) _

He creased his eyebrows together in confusion. "Aren't you going to watch the movie and make fun of it, you know, like you usually do?"

She grinned. "Nah. I have watched it 15 times before, thanks to you. I can totally sleep _and_ still make fun of it."

He sighed, shaking his head. (_Hey, he asked for it!) _Wrapping his arms around her shoulder, he brushed off the bangs from her face, gently stroking her hair, his eyes fixed on the screen all the while.

She snuggled into his chest, taking comfort in his feeling, and began her scheming. _Okay. So she needed to figure out a way to kiss Justin __without freaking him out__. That is going to be… difficult? (But she's the mother of sneakiness, don't forget that.)_

The movie continued, both of them silent, Justin watching it like it was the 7th wonder of the world (_There are seven wonders in the world, right?)_, and Alex replaying all her plans in her mind. Deciding to take a simple step to test how he would react if she kissed him (_His mileage may vary between screaming at her at high pitch to hiding in his room for the rest of his life)_, she gently placed her hand on his thigh. She grinned victoriously when she was immediately rewarded by his sharp inhalation and tensing of his entire body. Without any delay, she began to snore lightly, pretending to be asleep. (_How could she NOT be in the drama department of the school? Oh, right, she didn't do school work. Pfft.) _He relaxed again, convinced.

A few minutes passed like this. Her mind had a more devious (_and more risky) _idea this time. Giving in to her impulsive nature, she trailed her hand upwards, stopping on the fly of his jeans. Justin gasped in shock, and his chest began to rise and fall rapidly. (_Okay, so his male hormones are working. Good.)_"Shit", he muttered under his breath (_She heard it anyways) _and clutched her hand with his, tearing it away. (_Ha! Victory! His hands are shaking!) _

He rested her hand back in his lap, holding her hand for two minutes before releasing it. He took in a deep breath, and sighed, making a 'phew' noise and shaking his head. Everything became normal and silent after that.

_Okay…So if she 'accidentally' kissed Justin, maybe he wouldn't kill himself? _

A good twenty minutes passed after that, with nothing happening. Suddenly, Alex felt a cold liquid drop fall on her hand that rested on his lap. She perked her ears up, and after a moment, she heard him sniffle.

_Okay… so Justin was crying while watching a comedy? Well, silent movies DO make her want to cry, if Alex Russo actually cried, that is._

She opened her eyes slowly, looking at him softly. "Justin?"

He tensed; shocked that Alex had caught him sobbing in public. "Hmm?" he sniffled, quickly wiping his tears away.

"Why are you crying?" she asked, gazing straight into his eyes so that he couldn't lie. (_Well, Justin can't lie anyways. Loser.)_

"I'm not crying." He said, sniffling.

"Fine." She said, sitting up and shifting to a seat away from him. "Don't tell me." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, frowning.

"Alex, please." He pleaded desperately.

She looked away from him and straight into the screen. (_She was wrong. These movies need voices AND colors. And better editing. And more fashionable clothes. And loads of other things.)_

He sighed, getting up from his seat and sitting down on the one next to hers. "You are such a baby." He teased, putting his arms around her, once again. _(What? Just because she is mad at him doesn't mean she needs to push his arms away!)_

"Don't worry about me." He whispered softly. "I am fine. I just got a little carried away while thinking…"

"Thinking about what?" she demanded. (_And he gives useless details about year, month, day, hour, minute, second when you don't ask for it.)_

He sighed once again, his face taking on a more serious look. "When I leave for college, we won't be able to hang out like this… I can't believe I am able to say this, but, I think I am going to miss this."

"Then don't leave." She scoffed, shrugging. "And what exactly made you think I wouldn't pop into your dorm using magic?"

He glared at her playfully, and smacked her arm lightly. "I have a feeling dad will confiscate your wand within one week after I leave… and I _have to_ leave."

(_Her heart totally did not sink to her stomach.)_

She shrugged again, trying to act as indifferent as possible. "Yeah, but I will sneak the wand from dad and run away to see you."

He chuckled, squeezing her arms gently, and rested his head on hers. "I am going to miss you so much Alex."

"Duh!" she snorted. (_What? She was not admitting that she would miss him. Period.)_

**And once again, they became silent, his unvoiced promises and words conveyed to her through the way he rubbed her arm and her back. (**_**I will be there for you whenever you need me, Alex.) **_

And once again she returned to her original plotting on 'how to kiss Justin'.

_Start with the cheek? _

She lifted her head up, and gently pecked his cheek. (_Either he blushed or she was totally seeing things.) _

"What was that for?" he asked, smiling nervously.

She shrugged, resting her head on his shoulder once again. (_She was not saying 'Thank you Justin' either.)_

He titled her head to a side, and kissed her forehead softly. "You are welcome, Alex."

She smiled cheerfully, and titled her head back to the screen.

"Is this the part where the piano comes down?" she asked, whining.

He nodded, concentrating on the movie, and ignoring all her nasty remarks. (_If the theater wasn't empty, people would have totally thrown her out by now.)_

_Okay… try the nose this time? _

She reached up to his face once again, and kissed the bridge of his nose.

He gasped. "Alex! What are you doing?" he hissed in a quivering voice. (_Ha! He's snapping again.)_

She chuckled. "I am trying to kiss you?"

"What!" he almost shrieked, jumping up in his seat.

She looked up at him and grinned evilly. (_What? He would totally believe that she was just messing with him.)_

He glared at her, sitting back down. "Ah, now I remember why I need to pick a college far, far away." He mumbled sarcastically.

"You are so cruel!" she mumbled, frowning. "So… have you decided on the college yet?" she asked, holding her breath in anticipation of his response. (_Please say no. She needs a proper plan before she can sneak into his room and steal his acceptance letters.) _

"No." He said, much to her relief. "I haven't picked one yet… let's see." He shrugged, pouting thoughtfully.

_Damn. He looks too cute when he pouts like that. (Don't tell him. Unless you want to ride on the smug train.)_

She shut off all the voices and logics and reasons screaming in her head, reached up, and captured his lips with her. He gasped, caught completely off guard, grabbed her arm and pushed her away.

"What are you doing?" he asked incredulously. (_Ha! He can't even make himself sound mad.)_

She snickered. "I told you I am trying to kiss you. It's not my fault that you didn't believe me!"

He stared at her in disbelief….

And she leant in for a kiss once again.

"Alex." He hissed, grabbing her roughly by the shoulders. "Stop this." He ordered sternly.

_Oh…so he didn't want this yet? _

"Alex." He sighed sadly, "You know that-"

"**Mac Weary, Time Reary**." She chanted without thinking, before he could even complete….

* * *

….She reached up to his face once again, and kissed the bridge of his nose.

He gasped. "Alex! What are you doing?" he hissed in a quivering voice. (_Ha! He's snapping again.)_

Alex blinked, relieved that they returned to a few minutes back (_Yay! She did a spell perfectly!) _and that he didn't remember anything.

She shook her head, sinking back to a corner of her seat. Wow…She would need to work a _little (lot) _more than she thought in order to get Justin.

He smiled brightly at her, unaware of the whole thing between them that got done and undone. "Alex… I am just really glad that we are getting along."

She brushed her thoughts aside, and smiled back at him. "Me too." She whispered softly.

_Well, at least she can still savor every second of this. _

"Hey Alex?" he asked suddenly. "What do you think Harper and Zeke are doing right now?"

She thought for a moment, before chuckling. "Probably babbling about how much they truly love each other, using words from all sorts of plays and movies."

He chuckled too, shaking his head.

_Ugh. Great. While she sits here with Justin, wanting him but not getting him, her best friend is drooling over her boyfriend? This is totally unfair! This was totally her best friend's fault, to begin with!  
_

_

* * *

_

(A/N: they can't kiss in the current condition of the plot. Sorry :P I did add a bit more of emotional stuff here… so, did you like this? **Please review!) **


	10. Ch 9:The queen of manipulations

**Disclaimer: I do not own wowp **

**Chapter 9: The queen of manipulations

* * *

**

When the movie was over, Justin and Alex came out of the theater, fighting and laughing, and saw Max standing outside, waiting for them.

_Right. Max. Welcome aboard once again buddy. (Ugh. Just go away!)_

"How was the movie?" Justin asked cheerfully.

"It was awesome, but", Max frowned, "I think I am going to be sick… Can we go home, Justin?"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Alex interrupted quickly. "What do you mean 'we'? _You're _going home. We're hanging out."

"Alex." Justin scolded. "We can't let our little brother go home all alone by himself."

"Umm, guys, I _can _go home myself. I am 15." Max reasoned.

"With the brain of a 5 year old." Justin pointed out. "We need to go home."

Alex frowned. _Great. So when she could have perfectly got rid of Max, she has to abandon all her plans? Boo. _

She looked down at the ground and started digging her nails, clearly disappointed. "Come on Alex." Justin persisted, gently patting her shoulders.

She obeyed (_not without shooting him a dirty look) _and started walking (_storming) _out of the theater.

When she got out and looked up, she saw Harper, standing there in front of the theater, with Zeke. Her nose scrunched up in disgust as she saw them act love-struck and all, holding hands. (_They are not kids! They won't get lost if they don't hold hands all the time!) _But her eyes lit up in new excitement as she got a new idea. (_Ah, finally someone she can manipulate.)_

"Hey Harper!" she greeted, using her most indifferent, casual tone. "What are you doing here?"

Harper laughed. "What do you mean? Didn't I tell you I have a date with Zeke?"

"Yeah I know", Alex nodded quickly. "But, I thought you'd be at _home,_ studying for your… _History test." (Yes! She remembers!)_

Harper scoffed. "Don't worry Alex. I have already studied. I have revised and re-revised the chapter."

Alex groaned mentally. _Why do people study in advance? Why was __everyone__ in her life so smart? _She looked around to see Max digging his nose, staring blankly at his finger. _Okay, maybe not __everyone__._

"But Harper", she continued, gently placing a hand on her friend's shoulder and pulling her to the side, to talk in private. "Don't you want to study again? You know, to get good grades and get into a college with Zeke. So that you two can live happily together forever…"

_What? So what if she's manipulating Harper? Please, this is totally fair! Harper deserves this! It's totally Harper's fault that she fell in love with Justin!_

Harper paused, thinking. "Oh my gosh Alex, you are right!" she squeaked in alarm. "I do need to study!" She walked over to the group once again. "I'm so sorry Zeke. But I need to go home and study for my test."

Zeke shrugged. "Well, I was planning to watch a movie with you today, but that's okay Harpie-bear."

_Harpie-bear? Really? And how did THAT slip her ears? _

Zeke smiled, gently pecking her lips (_ew!) _and pulling apart. "I understand that you need to study. I will just hang out with Justin."

Alex's eyes widened in alarm once again. _What! No! He can't hang out with Justin! He can't ruin her perfectly foolproof plan to hang out alone with Justin!_

She gasped in fake surprise. "But Zeke, I thought that... that a loving and…and _geek_ boyfriend like you would help Harper study."

_See. She's being totally selfish this time and helping Harper and Zeke be together. (And getting rid of them. shh!)_

Zeke paused, thinking, and then nodded. "You're right Alex! I should help my Harpie study!"

"Aww! That is so sweet of you, Zeke!" Harper cooed, linking her arms with Zeke and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "Let's go home, Zeke."

"Wait." Alex interrupted, grabbing Max by the arm and shoving him in front of Harper and Zeke. "Since you guys decided to go home, why don't you take Max with you?"

_Evil genius. Thank you very much!_

Zeke smiled brightly. "No problem Alex… come on Max."

"Bye guys." Max greeted, as he started following Harper and Zeke back home.

She smiled in satisfaction, and sighed in relief, wiping her hands on her pants. She turned around to see Justin, standing with his arms crossed, glaring at her.

"What?" she scoffed. (_Staring is rude!)_

Justin's frown increased. "It's not right to sabotage people like this."

She shrugged non-chalantly, and dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Oh please! It's not like this is the first time you saw me doing this."

"Yeah, I have seen you do it before." Justin nodded in agreement. "But I just don't get it…" he shook his head in confusion. "I don't see the point! Why did you get rid of all of them? Why did you want to hang out with me alone?"

_Ugh. Is this the part where she is supposed to confess her feelings? _

She shrugged again, praying that Justin would buy it. "I… I don't want to go home… and Harper could totally use Zeke's help in studying!"

He sighed, giving up. _(What made him think she would tell him the truth? Like she ever does that!)_

"What do you want to do now?" he asked in annoyance. (_This will never work out if he remains so annoyed like this.)_

"Pizza?" she asked, smiling sweetly.

He nodded, sending a pointed look in the direction of the road, and started leading the way.

Alex frowned. _Just because this isn't a date doesn't mean they shouldn't walk together! _

She glared at his back, growling. _Fine. She'll do this the hard way then. Time to be sneaky. (Well, she's always naturally sneaky. Whatever.)_

"Ouch!" she yelped, sitting down on the pavement, clutching her foot. (_Thanks for the idea, Maxie. She'll give you back your ball… after two months?)_

Justin turned around and quickly rushed to her. "Alex, are you all right?" he asked, bending down to look at her.

"No." she mumbled, pretending to be in pain. "I tripped and fell."

He frowned. "We need to get home fast."

"What! No!" she protested, getting up instantly, and limping on one leg. "I can totally walk... see."

"Yeah, right." He chuckled. "Come on Alex."

_You know what? On second thoughts, this wasn't such a great idea… BUT… she CAN still benefit from this. _

She sighed dramatically. "You're right Justin… I can't walk." She gulped, making it look like she was having a lot of trouble swallowing her pride. "Help me?"

He sighed. "Let's just get a cab."

"No! No! No!" she quickly grabbed his arm. "Not a cab!"

He creased his eyebrows together in confusion. "Why not?"

_Think Alex. Think. (Ugh! How can she think when his touch is burning her?) _

"Because…" she began, looking around. "Because mom and dad would know something is wrong with me… we can't go home by cab! We can't go home now Justin!"

He scoffed. "And how can mom and dad not know about your leg with you limping like a chicken?"

She glared at him (_She was looking for solutions, not new problems! Or comments). _She shrugged. "I am hoping that my leg would get better by then." (_Yeah. She can probably find a way to drop the acting.)_

He shook his head and sighed. "This doesn't make sense to me at all. But I don't even feel like standing her and arguing with you… come on Alex."

When he began walking ahead once more, she stared at him in disbelief. "Justin!" she yelled in annoyance. "I said help me!"

He turned around, and eyed her skeptically. "What are you up to this time?" he demanded, fixing her with a glare. (_Like that would intimidate her? Yeah, right!)_

She shrugged. "Nothing." She replied innocently.

He continued glaring at her, and offered his hand.

She took it; acting like it was the worst thing in the whole world, all the while beaming inside. (_Ugh. Why did her mind have to start painting pictures of the day when he'd offer his hand to her like that, and ask her to run away with him?)_

"Are you planning on blackmailing me or something?" he asked, putting an arm around her waist to balance her weight. (_And that began burning as well. Really? It's not like his touch is acidic… wait. Acids are supposed to burn your skin, right? What__? It's not like she took advanced chemistry so that she could be in the same class as Justin and read this thoughts all the time!)_

"Gosh! Stop over thinking! This is not the first time I am asking you to help me!" she snarled. (_She was running out of excuses!)_

He sighed sadly. "I knew I was getting myself into trouble the minute I offered to hang out with you."

"Me too." She agreed, grinning deviously. "You should stop getting yourself into trouble like this, Justin."

He stared at her incredulously, while her grin increased.

_Okay. On second thoughts, holding hands IS fun… _

_And now she just needs to figure out a wait to make him stop at the pizza bar. Okay. _

**

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(A/N: Hope you liked this chapter :) please review and tell me! Next update will be on Saturday or Sunday, depending on your reviews. I am going to be very busy tomorrow, so no update on this… I think this story is going to be longer than I thought it would be. Around 20-25 chapters? You guys okay with that?)**


	11. Ch 10: Totally my best friend's fault

**Disclaimer: I do not own wowp….. But the lyrics in this chapter are all mine. :) IT'S THE THEME SONG FOR THIS FANFIC! Tell me if you like it!**

**

* * *

Chapter 10: ugh, this is totally my best friend's fault**

_Always keep walking by my side,_

_Let me find you with me in every stride. _

_Let me just pretend to trip- _

_I know that you won't let me fall. _

_I am not afraid to go on- _

_I know you'll catch me through it all…_

_You will never understand_

_How great it feels to hold your hand…_

_I don't want this feeling to ever come to a halt._

_Ugh, this is totally my best friend's fault!_

They kept walking together for a while, hand in hand, until they came in front of the pizza bar and Alex stopped.

"I am hungry." She simply stated. (_Anyone with a brain can figure the rest out, duh!)_

He gasped. "I thought you said you were hurt."

"I don't see your point." She rolled her eyes. "I can't eat because my leg is hurt? I am sorry Justin, but I don't _eat_ with my legs. That's kind of a Max-thing."

She chuckled, and he chuckled too, remembering the moment when Max had decided that his hands need to be saved for more important things (_Like adding rotten cockroaches to his rotten sandwich. Ew!) _and decided to eat with his legs. (_You can guess the rest.) _

"You still remember that?" Justin asked, grinning.

She laughed. "How can I forget something that horrific?"

_You've been with me, in every happy moment._

_In every trouble, in every place I went._

_I am feeling down- let me pretend,_

_So that you hold me, for hours on the end. _

_I wish we would just keep on talking,_

_I wish we would just keep on walking._

_I never want this moment to halt. _

_Ugh, this is totally my best friend's fault!_

"So…. You _really_ want to eat pizza now?" he asked skeptically.

She frowned, smacked his shoulders, and got inside the restaurant. (_Actions speak louder than words. Wink, wink.) _

"Hey, wait for me!" he yelled behind her, walking inside and finding her sitting in an empty table. He sat down in front of her, frowning. "Thick crust."

"Thin crust." She announced, whining. (_Not again! They have been through this, like…ten to the power infinity times before?... What? She knows about infinity! She's heard it from Justin! Blame him.) _

She called the waiter, and placed her order, without even consulting him, as usual.

"I exist." He mumbled, glaring at her.

She scoffed. "Really?"

_We've been fighting like this, even since I was three._

_Cause even if we fought, I knew you'd never leave me. _

_And now you say you'll go away to some college for years._

_Don't you dare to leave me all alone, with my pain and tears!_

_I am gonna lock you in my room forever, and tighten all the bolts._

_Ugh, this is totally my best friend's fault!_

She began to think of college and Justin and all sneaky ideas, and kiss and movies and running away. He cleared his throat, breaking her out of the trance, and she noticed that the pizza had arrived. (_Okay. Fine. So maybe her father is right. Maybe wait-staff are a LOT faster than she is.) _

"So…" Justin began talking again, "What else are you planning to do to stop me from going to college?"

She grinned deviously. "What do _you_ think I am planning?"

He held up his hands in the air. "I am not giving you any ideas."

She scoffed. "As if I care about your stupid ideas!"

He shrugged, not bothering to protest. "You know, instead of wasting your time in all these plotting and planning-"

"-What do you mean wasting?" she cut him off. "My plots _always_ work. And I am not plotting to make you stay, by the way."

He shrugged again. "I am just saying that you can hang out with me these weeks… I really want to take some nice memories with me."

_Don't you even dare to call me a memory!_

_I will never let you go, don't worry._

_Even though I will never admit this._

_I am gonna change your mind with one simple kiss. _

_And I don't want the kiss to ever come to a halt._

_Ugh, this is totally my best friend's fault._

She shrugged. "Make this dinner good, and buy me some good things after that, and I will."

He stared at her incredulously. _What? He thought it'd be that easy? _

He sighed, shaking his head. "Why are you acting like this, Alex?"

"Acting like _what_?" she asked.

He eyed her up and down, trying to find the perfect word. "You are acting all…. _weird. _Ever since the movie…_" _he gulped hard, studying her face carefully. "Did something happen… at the movie? You know… something that you need to talk about but you don't want to?"

She ignored him, focusing on her pizza. (_He can't possibly remember the kiss and still act THAT cool, right? Pfft. He's Justin. Living with a lie gives him stress related symptoms. He would have snapped within one minute.)_

He gently squeezed her hand, forcing her to look at him. "You know you can tell me anything… What's the matter Alex?"

She sighed, giving in, (_How can she not give in when he's being THAT sweet and caring?) _putting her slice down, ready to talk. "Justin…."

**

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(A/N: Mega cliffhanger! XD this is basically a very short chapter to catch up on the theme … don't worry, I will update properly on Sat/Sunday like I promised. The dinner isn't over yet… review please! Tell me if you like the theme lyrics!.. REVIEW FOR FASTER UPDATE!) **


	12. Ch 11: heart to heart talk

**Disclaimer: I do not own wowp or the song at the beginning. **

**Chapter 11: heart to heart talk**

"_Let this conversation between us_

_Always go on like this._

_Let this meeting between us_

_Always go on like this._

_Let all our days and nights be spent like this. _

_Let new conversations begin from every conversation._

_Let us write a song using those conversations then,_

_A song that will touch everyone's hearts._

_Let our conversations keep on dissolving into tunes._

_Let our conversations keep on dissolving into songs."_

_-an approximate translation of "Yeh tumhari meri baatein" from rock on._

* * *

She sighed, giving in, putting her slice down, ready to talk. "Justin…." she hesitated, looking around her to make sure no one she knew was there. "Promise me you'll not make fun of me."

He nodded instantly. "I don't make fun of serious things…That's kind of your job."

She glared at him. (_Way to wreck the moment Justin.)_

"I'm sorry." He apologized quickly, squeezing her hand once more. "Alex… you _know _you can trust me."

She sighed, looking down at the ground. "I… I have been acting weird lately… because I have been _feeling_ weird."

She looked up at him, to see him nod his head, urging her to go on.

"Okay, so…" she gulped, glancing at their intertwined hands from the corner of her eyes and trying not to think too much about the adults-only images it brought in her mind. (_Because she's seventeen. She's not an adult yet, duh! It's not like she's guilty about picturing her brother pinning her to a wall and thrust-…no.)_ "This began when Harper started dating Zeke. I thought it would be great, and it _is_ great, but… it kind of made me feel lonely…. And then you said you'd be leaving me and I started feeling horrible… and…I… Gosh I am so confused Justin!"

He creased his eyebrows together and pursed his lips, thinking with great concentration. "So… you are scared that you'd be all alone when I leave you, huh?"

She nodded. "Kind of." (_I am scared that I can't live without you, because I am in love with you.) _

He smiled brightly at her, one of those genuine, warm smiles that made her want to melt. (_Except, she can't actually melt, you know, she's not really ice, even if her attitude is icy cold!)_ "Alex, you know you'll never be alone. I'd always be there for you."

"But you'd not be _here_", she protested. "You will not be around to clean up my messes!"

"You won't need me to clean up your messes if you don't mess up in the first place." He reasoned.

She crossed her arms in front of her, accidentally freeing her hand from his grasp in the process (_shoot!)_, and glared at him. "Be real, Justin. You know that'd _never_ happen."

He nodded, agreeing. "Well then… maybe I will have to find another way to fix your messes."

"How?" she challenged.

He shrugged, before his lips curved upwards into another bright, reassuring Justin-smile. "We'll figure something out, Alex. I promise."

_He also promised he'd never leave her. Why should she believe him? _

"So….anything else bothering you?" he asked once again, looking at her softly.

_I am in love with you, Justin?_

She shook her head, deciding not to admit to _that_ yet. (_She'd need a bullhorn, two bottles of water, three cubes of ice and emergency medical supplies, in case he freaked out.)_

He nodded too, returning to the pizza, as she did the same. They ate in a sort of comfortable silence, just enjoying being in each other's company (_and not saying that out loud and destroying their own dignity.) _

She glanced at him, to see a bit of cheese stuck to the corner of his mouth, and fought back the urge to wipe it with her tongue. (_She's not CPR certified. She can't save him if he started freaking out and was not able to breath! Although she did want to kill him for years…hmmm)_

"Um, there's something in your mouth." She mumbled, gesturing at her own mouth with her hands. He wiped his lips with the tissue, obviously missing the actual spot. "Gone?"

She shook her head, snatching the tissue from him (_And how she wishes this was used toilet paper… What? Who said the evil sister in her died?) _and wiping his mouth clean. "There. _Now_ it's gone."

"Thanks." He mumbled, returning to the pizza again.

She shrugged. (_No big deal). _"You used to do that for me when I was a kid."

He smiled at the memory, tears glittering in his eyes. (_Gosh, why is Justin such a sentimental freak?) _"These years passed so fast…"

"Duh." She rolled her eyes. (_And now he starts talking like an old, dying man… as if his too-old-for-his-age and overly-mature attitude wasn't enough of an annoyance!) _

"You are going to return my things when I leave… right?" he asked skeptically.

"What!" she gasped in shock. "Justin! Why do you think I've been collecting them all these years? I am totally going to keep them with me when you leave!"

_And he's not leaving anyway. _

He sighed dramatically, wiping his hands with another tissue. "You leave me no choice then. It looks like I will just _have to_ upload your cheerleading video to the internet."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "You wouldn't!"

He nodded seriously.

_Okay. So he would…Think Alex, think. What was Justin's weakness again? Right… __Alex__. _

"Fine, then, do it.", she began, in a low, hushed voice, to make it sound like she was really scared and upset. "Upload that video to the internet, and let _tons _of boys drool at your little sister, watching her swaying around in that _tiny__little__skirt_."

This time, it was his eyes that nearly bulged out of his skull. Why didn't he think of this before? "I..." he stuttered, and she noticed how his hands formed into a fist in all his over-protective, big-brother glory. "I…"

"You wouldn't." she completed, grinning smugly. _Mission accomplished. (He wouldn't try to protect her from himself… right? Huh, of course he wouldn't! He's the guy who gave a tight spin-hug to his hot little sister dressed in a mini… He wouldn't… right? ) _

He shook his head, giving up, and got up to pay the bill.

She wiped her hands with a tissue (_she missed his shirt by mere forty seconds. Boo) _and followed him, standing beside him.

He glanced around to see her standing there and gasped.

"What?" she scoffed in annoyance.

He gasped again (_and you blame her for calling him a drama-queen? Yes. Queen. Not king. Kings don't cry like big babies!)_. "You can walk on your own!"

_Oops… _

She shrugged again, trying to play it off as casual. "I guess rest made my leg feel all better?"

He shook his head, making the payment, taking the return money, and counting it. (_If he thinks he's better at Math than the machine at the counter, sure, have fun with the calculations, Justin.) _

Once they got out of the restaurant, he offered his hand to her again.

_What the…?_

She quirked an eyebrow in questioning, even as she accepted his hand.

"I can see that you did all this to get my attention." He explained, as they started walking. "So I might as well give you that…"

_Well. Being at the centre of attention IS something that she likes to do, but it wasn't that simple this time…. But okay, sure, let's go with that. _

"You are still such a kid." He teased, ruffling her hair with his free hand.

She ruffled his hair too, messing it up. "And you were born acting like a sixty year old."

He scoffed. "Being mature never hurt anyone."

"Sure. It just sucks the fun out of your life."

"Life isn't all about fun." He began lecturing for the nth time.

She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Keep your useless, unlimited knowledge with you. Now tell me your plans for tomorrow."

He bit his lip nervously. "Umm, I haven't planned yet…"

"Good." She smiled sweetly. "Then leave the planning to me."

He stopped in his tracks in fear. "Alex. I don't feel like going to the jail tomorrow."

She glared at him (W_ell, they will land up in jail someday anyways.) _and pulled on his hand, forcing him to walk ahead with her.

She wondered briefly why no one was staring at them, why no one was asking them the reason for them holding hands. She realized that people must have shrugged it off as nothing. After all, it's not everyday that a brother and a sister fall in love. (And they think there will never be a day when Justin and Alex do.)

They reached their home, rang the doorbell, waiting for someone to answer. (_The night ends. Boo…)_

Their mother did, greeting them with a frown as soon as they stepped inside. "**Why** did you send Max home with Harper and Zeke." She demanded.

Alex gulped. "Because he was sick… and Harper was coming home anyways… I would have taken him home myself. Why would any normal person want to hang out with Justin? But then I remembered how happy you guys were that we were getting along, and I thought I shouldn't ruin it..."

Their mother's eyes softened, the anger disappearing. (_Winging it never fails!) _

Their father walked down the stairs at the moment, and gasped when he saw them. "You two are back… and no one is hurt?"

Alex pouted, crossing her arms. "I am not _that_ bad of a kid…"

"Awww", Theresa cooed, attacking them both with a hug. "My babies are getting along."

Alex scrunched up her nose in disgust, and she tried to break free. "Mom, I just spent _hours _with Justin… you don't really need to torture me with the hug. My punishment is over."

Their mother pulled away with a grin. _Okay… so she totally gave her mother some idea. Great. Well done Alex. Well done, idiot!_ "You know what, Jer? Next time we will send Alex out with Justin, instead of grounding her!"

"What! No!" Justin and Alex yelled in unison.

(_Ha! Now she can't WAIT to break the rules!)_

* * *

They went straight to their rooms, deciding to change and head to bed.

She barged into his room, to find him already in bed.

"Hey." She whispered, sitting down beside him.

"Yeah?" he asked, looking up from the book he was reading. _(Since when Justin start reading manga? Angel Sanctuary, huh? She would have looked it up, if she cared enough to research things.) _

She gulped, deciding to just go ahead and admit it. "I had fun with you today." she looked down at the ground, ashamed of the confession.

He smiled, nodding. "Me too." He admitted. (_Okay. So now he can't tease her about it. Good.) _

"Goodnight." She whispered, getting up and walking out.

"Goodnight Alex." He whispered back.

* * *

She sank to her bed, thinking of everything that happened that day, ready to dream of Justin. She sighed dreamily, snuggling with her pillows. _How much longer will it take for her to get Justin? _

Holding hands, walking together, movie, dinner, a kiss that was reversed with magic…. **Since when did Alex Russo's love life become that romantic, like fairytales? (And forbidden, like the movies?)**

She snorted as she got the answer. **Ever since Harper started dating Zeke.**

(_She told you before! This was totally her best friend's fault!)_

**

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(A/N: okay, since you guys reviewed so much, and since that was such a cruel cliffhanger, I updated. :) please review and tell me if you like this! Also, tell me where you want Justin and Alex to go on Sunday!) **


	13. Ch 12: Just beg

**Disclaimer: don't own it. The idea of this chapter comes from lymairoz. Thanks! **

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Chapter 12: just beg**

She was expecting her Sunday morning to begin with waking up from a sweet dream of Justin at 10 a.m., and her mother's Sunday-surprise dish ready in front of her. (_What? A girl can always hope!) _But of course, it didn't go that way. Her Sunday began with a scream from Justin.

"**ALEX!"**

She groaned, covering her ears with her pillows. "Go away." She mumbled sleepily.

"**OH MY GOSH ALEX! COME HERE QUICKLY!" **

He yelled again, and she growled. (_It's at moments like this that she wishes that she was born deaf. Or that she turned his lips into blades of pitcher plant and glued them together permanently.)_

"**I JUST GOT MY ACCEPTANCE LETTER!" **

And how could she _not_ jump up in her bed and run downstairs in one breath after hearing that?

"You what?" she asked, crossing her arms, scoffing, and trying to play it off as casual.

_Of course he saw through it. Wrong move Alex! What made you think dashing downstairs like your rear caught fire was the best idea?_

He grinned smugly. "I got accepted at Oxford."

She gasped. "Oxford? That's in… umm…" (_And she still does not wish she had studied geography a bit.)_

He frowned. "England."

She gasped again. _Weren't there universities in his own country? Or is he THAT dorky that they wouldn't take him? _"You would go that far away?"

He nodded sadly. "Yupe…. Doesn't that make you feel sad and shattered?"

"No." she scoffed, cringing when her voice came off as timid.

That smug grin spread in his lips again. "Aren't you going to miss me?"

She rolled her eyes. (_That should blink back the tears.)_ "Sure. I would miss running into you all the time."

His grin widened. "Just say it Alex. You don't want me to leave. Just beg. And I won't."

Her eyes widened in shock. He wanted _Alex Russo _to _beg _to him?

_Really? _

"I am sorry, but what was that?" she asked, unable to believe her ears. (_Justin valued his life. Didn't he?)_

"You heard me." His eyes glittered. "And stop crying Alex."

"I am not cr.." she touched her cheeks, to feel they were damp. _Oh… okay. So now she begins to cry without even noticing, great! _She quickly wiped the tears away. "I am not begging."

He shrugged, putting the envelope at the side. "Oh well, I didn't plan on going to Oxford anyway.. You still have some time to decide."

_Wait a minute. _

"So this was just a prank?" she asked in disbelief. _Justin learnt acting? Really? Nah. She was just being too vulnerable. She totally didn't pay attention to that grin in his lips. Damn it Alex! _

He nodded. "Not exactly a prank, but yeah, it sort of isn't real… I just totally proved that you care about me." He paused, putting an arm on her shoulder. "All you need to do is beg, Alex."

She glared at him. "**I am not begging**."

"I know." He grinned. "That's why I am not staying either. Now you can't do anything to stop me!"

She glared at his retreating back, her mind too shocked to think of a witty comeback. So all she needed to do was swallow her pride and just say the words out loud, probably in front of the whole family. (_If it was her in his place, it would have been the whole city. Or the whole world, thanks to the internet.) _

Was Alex Russo going to _beg?_

She shook her head. _Nah… she'll think of something else. _

A voice at the back of her mind began thinking…. **Could she really stop him by just begging? **

**

* * *

(A/N: sorry this was so short. But it's a major part of the plot, and I am dividing the chapters according to the theme... plus, I am busy, and my nose is running. And I just published my first ever M-rated jalex fic… not sure if it should be a one-shot or a chapter fic…Next chapter of "her best friend's fault" will be longer, and will be up tomorrow if I feel better than today. So review please!)**


	14. Ch 13: Tables turn

**Disclaimer: I do not own wowp. or the song at the beginning and end. They are the same song, "rehna tu", BTW. The idea of this chapter comes from jessamyn. Thanks! **

**Chapter 13: tables turn

* * *

**

"_Stay just the way you are,_

_You are a bit of pain, and a bit of relief. _

_Stay just the way you are._

_A soft breeze of passion, soft as silk...  
_

_I wouldn't want to change you even a bit, darling. _

_Even without any decorations and mixing,_

_You are a sight to behold._

_I love you, just the way you are."_

_-An approximate translation of "rehna tu" from Delhi 6. _

_(I totally used a website to translate some words.)  
_

* * *

She spent her Sunday lunch glaring at him, and receiving smug-grins from his side. It was a blessing that he kept quiet about the crying for him thing. _(Pfft. He probably knew she'd totally lie and deny it, and get him into trouble instead.) _

She asked him to get ready at 4 in the evening, and they started on their destination.

"Where are we going?" Justin asked, his eyes ever alert, as if two manacles can appear from thin air and restrain him. (_And she was totally not planning about caning him. wink wink.) _

She grinned. "You'll see."

And he saw. He saw a park.

"Let's take a stroll in this lovely evening breeze." She announced sweetly. (_Of course he knew something was wrong from her unusually positive words and the fake sweetness in her voice. But that was the idea. Thank you very much!)_

"Okaaay…" he agreed skeptically and followed her. (_Well, she wouldn't have changed her plans, but it would have been more fun if he had tried to make her stop! Boo. This is getting boring.) _

"So, why are we here again?" he questioned, glancing around the park and seeing all the lovey-dovey couples engaged in PDA.

_That should be totally awkward and embarrassing for him? Good. _

There was that trademark evil glint in her eyes again. "You would see."

He licked his lips nervously. "Alex, I don't think this is a good idea. All the people here are-"

She cut him off, as she took her hands in his.

His eyes widened in surprise, and he nearly jumped back. "What are you doing?" he asked incredulously.

She shrugged. "Blending in with the surroundings?" (_And being romantic. Shhh! Don't tell him!) _

He stared at her in disbelief. (_Staring is rude! What is she? Some beautiful painting in that art museum? And if he IS staring at her, he might as well stare like he wants to claim her at that moment. Not like grew two heads!)_

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. If you don't like it, then I can probably find some random boy and hold hands with him."

She let go of his hand and started looking around. He grabbed her wrist (_Ha, bull's eye) _and intertwined their fingers again. "Fine." (_She was totally not beaming inside with delight. She is not one of those sappy heroines from a sappy movie! Even though she IS a pretty good actress.)_

_...Okay. Now the next part of her plan. _

She spotted her target nearby, and quickly hid behind a bush, gesturing for Justin to follow.

He shook his head, glaring, grimacing, frowning, sighing (_and he still doesn't know why Mr. Laritate asked him to direct Tinkerbell. Really? Yeah, right, You are totally not dramatic, Justin) _and followed reluctantly.

"What exactly are you trying to do?" he demanded, even though his voice came off as shaky. (_Ha, he's snapping again! thank you, male hormone… test-um, test-stone? Nah... test-ogen?... Ugh, whatever.)_

"Shhh!" she hissed at him, pointing her finger in a particular direction. (_Yes, she knows pointing fingers at people is rude, and yes, she doesn't care.)_

He followed her hand, and what he saw nearly made his eyes bulge out of his skull.

Harper and Zeke**…. Cuddling?** _(Yup. The award for the most disgusting sight of the century does to Harper and Zeke.)  
_

"Zeke?" he almost shrieked.

She covered his mouth with her hands, glaring at him. (_Need a bullhorn, Justin?)_

"Keep it down! You'll alert the whole city." She hissed.

"What are we doing here, spying on Harper and Zeke?" he hissed back.

"I am showing you what I have been forced to hear about all this week." She snapped.

He snorted. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Yeah, I know." Again that devious grin. "I am just showing you where Zeke was last time he didn't attend your Alien League meeting…. As the President of the geek junk, doesn't that make you mad?" (_Total lie. Zeke was sick. And Harper was nursing him. but whatever. It's not like he doesn't trust her and is going to verify this. He trusted her more than Juliet. Pfft.) _

He sighed. "It does. But I am his best friend too, and… **and why are you trying to turn me against my best friend**?" he demanded, suddenly catching on her intentions.

"I am not." She replied, quickly grabbing his arm in an attempt to calm him down. "I am just trying to make you realize something."

"What?"

"Today, Zeke is ditching the alien language league meeting for Harper." She began in her low, trademark manipulative voice. "Tomorrow, he will be ditching school for her. And then, the day after that, he'd be ditching _college._"

He bit his bottom lip nervously. "So?"

"So…" she rubbed soothing circles on his arm. (_Who said nerds don't have muscles? Stop stereotyping, people!) _ "If your best friend skips college, doesn't that make you wanna skip college as well?"

His eyes widened for a minute, and then he grinned smugly. "Your best friend will be going to college; doesn't that make you want to go to college too?" he retorted. (_Darn, he's good at this!) _"This is all about making me stay, huh? I told you Alex. **Just beg**."

_Okay. That's enough. NOW she needs to teach him a lesson. _

She tugged on his sleeves, pulling him away from the park.

He groaned. "_Now_ where are we going?"

She didn't reply, just kept dragging him. (_Didn't he get the hint that she's not telling him?)_

When they reached her next destination, his eyes widened in alarm. "Alex…. **No**. There's **no way **I am getting in there."

She pouted. "I thought you loved school, Justin."

"**Breaking into school on a Sunday evening**?" he almost yelled. (_Why is this guy always yelling? Does he have hearing problems? Good. He can't hear her bitch about him then.) _"**Heck no**. We are going home Alex."

She pulled her wand out from her boot, and chanted a spell, magically getting them in. (_Of course she totally ignored him.) _

"Alex." He warned.

"Oh, look at that, we are at the basketball court." She tucked her wand back into her boot non-chalantly. (_It's not like there are people at school now and they can see them. Pfft.) _"Well, let us have some fun then."

"Alex." He warned again. (_she totally does not love to hear her name from his lips from he sounds so mad.)_

She looked around, eventually finding the abandoned ball. "Let's play."

He scoffed. "You can't play basketball! You are just a pretty little cheer-leader."

She glared at him. "Because you tricked me into it." (_Seriously? Which guy tricks his sister into becoming a cheerleader, AS REVENGE?) _

He shrugged.

"I have an idea." She announced, grinning. "Let's have a game and see who wins."

"Here's another idea." He tried, "Let's get out of here before your idea gets us into trouble." (_Someone sounds like Harper, huh? See, everyone in her life are the same and annoying.)_

She scoffed. "Scared that you will lose?"

He scoffed, flinching between giving in and proving her wrong, and sticking to his idea and getting home, letting her hold it against him forever. At last, he reached for the ball. (_Bull's eye. Yet again. She should write a book on Justin. Except, no one would care to buy it and read it. Pfft, it'd be too boring.)_ "Unlike you, I actually do have some experience."

"Yes, you were so great at that game." She retorted. (_Why do schools have stupid quiz contests? If there was a sarcasm contest, she would have totally won first prize!)_

He glared at her, ready to win the game. "If I win, I want you to do something for me."

"And if I win, I want you to do something for me." She shot back.

"Deal."

He did win, playing with great concentration and determination, like he did when he was doing anything. (_And okay, lets' face it. She's not good at basketball either, but hey, this is her first try.)_

But she won as well, because every time their bodies came into contact, his breath would hitch and he would lose his focus. (_Ha, guys are so easy.) _And when she fell down on top of him, she swore she could see him blush. (_But okay, let's not get into these movie cliché. She might as well just watch those stupid sappy movies if she liked these! Ew.) _

By the end of it all, they decided to return home, exhausted.

"I totally beat you." He had the smug grin on his face, all the way back home. And she fought back the urge to slap him hard. (_or kiss him hard.)_

She ignored him, focusing her mind on planning. (_Okay, so tables were turning between them. Whatever. She'll win next time. Today was just not her day.)_

"Can't think of a nasty remark?" he teased.

"Let's go to a club today." She said instead.

That caught him off guard, and he stumbled backwards. (_Why isn't there a dirty gutter behind him? shoot.) _

"You can't be serious." He held his index finger in the air, and silenced her before she could even speak. "No, Alex." He said sternly.

She pouted, whined, complained, blackmailed, and of course none of those worked. _Because it's Justin, duh! He would never break the rules. (He would break one rule soon though, the biggest rule.)_

When they returned home and sat down for a 'friendly family dinner', she lost herself in deep thought.

One week and she still couldn't figure out a way to stop Justin. Was he really going to leave?

_Nah. She'll think of something next week. _

_

* * *

_

"So", he stood at her door, leaning on the door frame. "I won today. And you promised you will do something for me."

"What do you want Justin?" she snapped impatiently. (_It's not like she's a person of her words and she would do what he'd ask her to do. There's no harm in hearing what he wants! Maybe she can use it against him?)_

"I want my Captain Jim Bob Sherwood comic back." He declared.

She crossed her arms, thinking. (_Well, he would freak out when he sees all the ink dabs anyway.)_

"Sure." She gave in instantly, rummaging through the box below her bed and returning it to him. (_He went remarkably easy on her. She would have probably made him sing at the lunch during cafeteria. If she could find some ear plugs before that, that is.) _

He stared at her skeptically, and snatched the comic back, started storming out of her room.

"Wait, Justin!" She suddenly called out behind him, running up to him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

He raised an eyebrow in confusion, but hugged back.(_Honestly, she had no clue why she did that as well... something to do with her crush on him?)  
_

"You made me cry today." she mumbled into his chest.

"Sorry." He apologized quickly, rubbing her back. "I didn't mean to... I am really sorry Alex... I didn't know you'd cry if you think I'd leave."

"I know." her voice came muffled.

_Gosh, why couldn't she stay in his arms this way, forever?_

_"Even if you wound me,_

_You heal my wounds as well._

_I fall in love with those wounds too..._

_I love you just the way you are._

_I want to get wet and lose myself in your rain._

_I love you just the way you are._

_I want to get turned into ashes in your fire..."  
_

He finally let go of her, mumbling a goodnight with a sweet smile, and walked away.

She sank to her bed, disappointed. Shoot. If she had won this game, maybe she could have made him stay?

_Nah. He would have still left anyways….And she would still come up with something next week.  


* * *

_**(A/N: I have no idea when I can update next. ON HIATUS TILL I GET MY GRADES BACK UP. Did you guys like this? please review! BTW, if I ever start acting over-confident/arrogant/rude/hurtful/disrespectful, i.e. like a jerk, feel free to send a virtual slap my way.)**


	15. Ch 14: Please don't be mad

**Disclaimer: I do not own wowp. I just spilled my coke all over myself and my keyboard. Yeah, I am clumsy.**

**A/N: this chapter is barely comedy. It's more serious, kind of angst, and romantic. It has a different taste than the other chapters. I hope you guys still like it!)

* * *

**

**Chapter 14: please don't be mad**

On Monday morning, she woke up in a rather grouchy mood. (_So now she starts having nightmares about college and Justin? Hello! She is not supposed to have nightmares involving Justin. SHE is supposed to be the nightmare in Justin's life!)_

She quickly brushed her teeth, dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast, all the while grumbling.

She noticed that Justin was already seated, and eating. (_Couldn't he have waited for her like he ALWAYS does?)_

When she sat down at the chair, he gently pushed his comic book to her side.

"Thanks Alex." He mumbled sarcastically, not even looking at her.

_WHAT! He won't freak out and shout at her? This is NOT done!_

"You are welcome." She smiled deviously.

He didn't stir a bit.

"What? No boring lecture?" she asked as she slowly started getting scared. (_This is so unlike Justin!) _

He still didn't stir a bit, just focused on his food.

_Oh. So the silent treatment? Fine. He can only last five minutes. _

But he lasted longer that day. The whole breakfast! The whole freaking breakfast! (_She was totally not scared!)_

* * *

On the ride at the subway, she kept glancing at him hopefully. He kept talking to Max and Harper, pretending as if she didn't even exist.

She turned around to face the window, her eyes staring blankly at the monotonous stations, as the train kept moving at a furious speed, messing up her hair and making it fall all over her face. (_And how she wished he'd gently push it away!) _

Her mind replayed random images of her life, random moments that she didn't even know she remembered, random things that she never thought were important to her, like the first time she saw a bike at a store but her father wouldn't buy it because she was too young- she kept going back at the store and staring at it. Justin had a bike before she did, and she was so mad at him! She didn't talk to him for days, and didn't even give him a reason. Two weeks later, she spilled expired tomato sauce all over his bike. It took him two days of crying and yelling at her and three days of cleaning to get rid of it. A few days later, he finally figured out why she had done this. When their parents were away, he let her ride his bike. (_And she fell down within two minutes, but that's a different story, so let's not get into that). _She blinked, standing in front of the bike, staring at him, wondering how to thank him. "Dork." She mumbled, smiling. He smiled back brightly, never scolding her again for her mischief.

Justin always forgave her. He couldn't be mad at her for a long time, right? Not because of a lame comic book! Come on! She's done worse things to him than that! (_Remember the blue dye at S.S. Tipton Cruise? That's a tiny example.)_

She was so absorbed in her thoughts, that when the train stopped, her head jerked sideward, hitting the harsh glass window. She hissed in pain, glancing up at him, to see that his eyes were closed, and he didn't notice this.

Tears brimmed in her eyes, for reasons that she wasn't sure of. She quickly turned around again and wiped them away. (_No one should EVER see Alex Russo crying, let aside in public.)_

* * *

At school, and he still wouldn't even look at her.

She opened her locker, taking out the mirror she snuck into it, and looked at her forehead, to see that it had swelled. She quickly changed her hairstyle, making her hair fall on her face, and hiding it.

Beside her own reflection in the mirror, she could also see the reflection of Harper and Zeke, standing behind her, talking happily. Why can't she be happy like Harper? Why can't she talk to Justin?

* * *

First period, and she was being a worse slacker than usual. (_Yup. Love messes up all your systems.)_ By the end of it, she decided she needed to talk to Justin.

"Justin." She called.

He ignored her.

"Justin please." She tried again.

He still ignored her.

"Ugh!" she groaned, walking away. (_Whatever. If he doesn't want to talk, fine. Alex Russo is not gonna run around him begging!)_

* * *

Lunch time came and she actually wanted to cry. Seriously. Alex Russo wanted to cry! That's how horrible this whole mess made her feel.

She and Justin entered the cafeteria at around the same time, both rushing to grab Max. Justin reached faster, and so Alex was left alone. (_She could have pulled Max to her side, but right now, she wasn't in the mood for manipulations.)_

She sat down all alone at an empty table, staring at Justin, and then at Harper and Zeke. It pained her to see them so happy. Just yesterday she was having so much fun with Justin!

* * *

At the end of the school day, and she couldn't take it anymore- she couldn't even wait till they got home. This silence was driving her insane. (_Is this what it would feel like if Justin went to college?)_

"Justin!" she yelled, standing behind him with her arms crossed.

He didn't reply yet again (_Ugh! This is so annoying!) _and tried to move away.

She forcefully yanked his arm, compelling him to look at her. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded, tapping her feet on the cold marble floor.

"Not now Alex." He snapped, yanking his arm away.

"At least tell me why you are mad at me!" she yelled behind him. "Justin! It was just a stupid comic!"

"Just a stupid comic?" he turned around suddenly, causing her to stumble backwards in surprise. "For the record Alex, Captain Jim Bob Sherwood is my favorite comic. And you know this! You still spilled ink all over it to make me miserable!"

"So what? You have already read it, like, 20 times before." She scoffed nervously. (_A mad Justin was cute, but this angry Justin was kind of starting to freak her out.)_

"It's not about the comic!" he yelled again, and she winced. Gigi and the wannabes were looking, but she didn't care a bit. "It's about you making my life miserable. I leave in about a month or so… What did I tell you Alex? I want to take good memories with me. You are not helping at all."

He stopped ranting, out of breath, and started panting.

Harper appeared behind her, unsure what to say or do.

"Zeke and I have Alien League Meeting today. You guys go home." He instructed Harper, before walking away.

Alex blinked back the tears. This wasn't the time to break down and cry. This was the time to make everything alright again.

"Why did you spill ink on his comic book?" Harper asked her best friend.

"Wha- this was totally your fault!" Alex shot back, pointing her finger at Harper. "You were out on a date with Zeke. What else was I supposed to do? I _had to_ mess with Justin. You started all this, you should be ashamed of yourself Harper!"

Harper titled her head, staring at her.

"Oh I hate it when you are right!" Alex stomped her feet. "Fine. I messed up. I need to fix it. Harper do you have 5 dollars?"

"Yeah." Harper said, rummaging through her Watermelon purse, finding it, and holding it up to her. "Why?"

Alex snatched it from her friend's hand. "Cause I need 5 dollars and I can't get a hold of Justin's wallet right now. Come on." She tugged on her best friend's arm, pulling her away.

* * *

She placed the new comic book at Justin's bed, and walked back into her room. She closed the door and sank to her bed, finally breaking down into tears. She glanced at the mirror in the dresser, observing her wound. It felt so horrible to sit in her room all alone, with no Justin to console her. Would her life be this miserable, this dull, this un-snarky, this un-Alex, when Justin left for college?

The door opened softly, and he peeked his head in. "Hey."

She sniffled, being stubborn, and not replying. (_Yeah. She DOES know how to hold a grudge.)_

He walked into the room, closed the door behind him, and sat down on the bed beside her. He flipped the pages of the new comic book in his hand, waiting for her to start speaking. When she didn't, he sighed, looking up at her.

"Alex. I am sorry."

She didn't reply, just looked away. (_Payback time!)_

"Alex." He pleaded. He held her chin with his hand, forcing her to look at him. "I can't believe you replaced my comic! Thanks so much Alex."

She closed her eyes, unable to take the pain of staying so close to his face, and still not able to do anything.

He sighed again. "I am really sorry Alex…. I know I over-reacted today."

She sniffled, titling her head down, making her hair fall over her face.

He gently pushed her hair back (_Ah! Finally!)_ and then gasped. "Alex. What's this?" he gently touched the swelling at her forehead, his eyebrows pleating together in concern. "Alex?"

"Nothing." She mumbled, unable to hold her grudge on him any longer.

"I'll be right back." And he got out of the room.

He came back, with some sort of medicine, and gently applied this to her forehead. "When did this happen?"

"At the subway." She whispered, as her lips started to quiver.

His thumb paused on her forehead for a moment, his eyes looked pained. "I am so sorry Alex… it's all my fault." He whispered back.

"Why were so mad at me today?" she finally asked. "I mean, sure, you always shout at me, but you never act like _that._"

He sighed, his hot breath tickling her forehead, and again, alerting her about how close their faces were. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead (_Okay. Now the wound is healed.) _"I didn't mean to scare you Alex." He wiped away her tears with his thumb. "I… I just have been feeling so strange."

Her heart skipped a beat. _Could he possibly be feeling the same way she did? _"What do you mean?" she asked quickly.

He gulped, his eyes nervously darting around her room, and his hand playing with the medicine absent-mindedly. "I don't know. It's like…. You know I have wanted to go to college ever since I was eight."

She snorted by instinct, but apologized immediately. "Sorry… go on."

He ignored her, and continued. "But right now…. I don't know… it's like…. There's a voice at the back of mind that keeps telling me I shouldn't leave… and I can't figure out why I don't want to leave! It's frustrating!"

She grabbed his hands quickly, forcing him to look at her eyes. "Then don't leave."

He shook his head. "You know that's not possible… it's not logical…I have to leave."

She sighed, letting go of his hand, and burying her head in his chest instead.

He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Alex are you alr-"

"Shhh…" she silenced him. "Don't speak. If you really are going to leave for college, then let's make this moment a great memory. You know… like you wanted."

(_Nope. She isn't giving up yet. She's speaking hypothetically.)_

He smiled against her hair, hugging her back. "Hmm…. We did waste the whole day fighting."

"So... you are like, not mad at me anymore?" she asked skeptically.

He shook his head, gently rubbing her back. "No…"

"So, you are not gonna yell at me if I tell you something?" she asked again.

He shook his head once more. "No Alex. You can tell me."

She gulped nervously. "I was going through your Calico Woman action figure and…. Let's say she lost an arm."

"WHAT!" he shrieked, pulling away. "ALEX!"

"You promised you won't yell at me!" she pointed out.

"Alex, how am I supposed to stay calm when you say stuff like that?" he snapped back. "What did you do to my Calico Woman?"

"I told you I broke her arm…. and a leg." She added, biting her lip.

"ALEX!"

* * *

(A/N: long chapter. Hoped you liked it. Next chapter will be all humor again. Please review and tell me if you like this! Updates are gonna be much slower from now on.)


	16. Ch 15: Giant misunderstanding

**Disclaimer: I do not own WOWP.**

**Chapter 15: Giant misunderstanding

* * *

**

On Tuesday morning, he woke up to the tone of his alarm clock, as usual. He yawned, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Every night, he was starting to have dreams about home and New York. (_If this was Alex and the dream spell, she would be grounded forever.) _He sighed, yawning again. (_How can I person sleep properly while dreaming? Dreams occur only when a person is not in a deep state of sleep. Yeah, he's being scientific again.)_ There was something that was pulling him back and not allowing him to go to college, some invisible thread that was keeping him attached to New York. He was starting to think that this thread was, somehow, attached to Alex. How? Either he wasn't sure, or he wasn't ready to admit it yet. Which was the case? He figured Tuesday morning wasn't the best time to figure it out.

Yawning one last time (_Yawnathon, as Alex calls it)_, he got up from bed, stretched and glanced at the clock. He jumped up in alarm immediately. Who the heck set his alarm 2 HOURS LATE?

"ALEX!" he yelled, storming out of his room, and into hers.

"Alex!" he knocked on her door, waiting impatiently for her to respond. When she didn't, his fury got the better of him, and he entered the room.

BHAM!

"Ouch!" he yelped, and then grunted in pain, holding his head. "Alex! Are you trying to kill me?" he groaned, sitting down on the chair till his head stopped spinning.

She shrugged. "This was payback for being a jerk to me yesterday. I wanted to hit you in the head SO BAD. But then, you would have predicted it and it wouldn't be so much fun. And right now, I'd _love_ to sit and listen to you grunt, but I think you are two hours late."

His eyes grew wide in alarm, and he jumped up again, rushing out of the room to get ready.

She grinned, satisfied with herself, and kept his heavy math book aside. (_On second thoughts, books CAN be useful.) _

* * *

Yeah, her Tuesday morning began very well. She kept grinning all the time during the subway ride, he kept touching his head all the time, glaring at her, Max kept talking about the probability of grass growing on the surface of oceans, and Harper kept staring blankly into space.

_Wait… what? No Zeke talk? Really?_

* * *

"What's wrong Harper?" she asked during the first period, against her better judgment. (_Well, she can't just let her best friend sulk all alone. Sulking and Harper don't go side by side. It should be totally illegal for Harper to sulk.) _

Harper sighed sadly. "It's Zeke."

Alex gasped. "You two broke up?"

"No, no, no." Harper quickly shook her head. "It's not that."

"College?" Alex asked quickly and enthusiastically. (_PLEASE say yes. And she can totally find a way to stop Justin as well.) _

Harper shook her head again. (_Boo. Thanks Harper for being no help.) _"It's something different."

Alex raised an eyebrow, urging her to go on. (_She's been nice to her once in her life. Remember this day.) _

"We were chatting online yesterday. And he didn't reply for _3 minutes."_ Harper said, like a sad little puppy.

Alex deadpanned. _Really? THAT'S the big problem? Wow. Then she should have been sulking for 200 years when she found out that her boyfriend is a werewolf. _

"I don't see the problem, Harper." Alex stated bluntly.

"Zeke usually replies fast." Harper explained. "I think… I am scared Alex. What if he likes someone else?"

Alex scoffed. "Pfft. Harper! It's _Zeke._ He'll never cheat on you. Stop over-thinking."

Harper paused for a moment, thinking, and then sighed. "You are right. Maybe I'm acting a bit too possessive."

"Yupe. Moving on." Alex replied sweetly, before returning to slipping Justin's Angel Sanctuary under her note pad, and spilling ink on it. (_You thought she'd learn? Really?) _

* * *

"Yo Justin." Zeke whispered, leaning close to his ears.

"Shhh!" Justin hissed, listening intently to the teacher.

Zeke pouted, sitting quietly again.

The bell rang soon, and Zeke began again. "Justin, you've gotta hear this out man!"

Justin turned his head, pursing his lips together in annoyance. "Let me guess. Harper gave you a new nickname?"

"Pfft. Not even remotely close." Zeke replied, smirking proudly. "Yesterday I found out that O comes after I!" he announced excitedly.

Justin's eyes grew wide in panic (_Were the aliens taking over Zeke's brain? No, Zeke!) _"Umm, no, Zeke. I'm pretty sure that O comes after N."

Zeke shook his head. "I am talking about the keyboard, dude. I figured this out last night, while chatting with Harper. I kept analyzing it for 3 minutes!"

Justin's eyes grew wide again, this time, in shock. "Didn't you notice that before?"

"No!" Zeke replied, over excited for no reason, once again. "I thought that was a C! My types have worn off."

Justin scoffed. "Of course. That's why you have been typing zeros instead of O all this time… Dude, it's time you get a new keyboard!"

"But I don't want to abandon my poor little keyboard." Zeke replied, almost on the verge of crying. "It has memory! I got it as a present for my 10 successive A+s in Chemistry!"

Justin glared at him. "No one's asking you to throw it away. Just replace it." He held up a finger to silence Zeke. "No argument Zeke. We are going to the store today to get a new keyboard."

Zeke looked down. "But…. But Harper wanted to buy this dress…"

Justin scoffed. "Zeke. Harper _makes_ her own dresses. Come on."

"Okay." Zeke finally gave in. "But please don't tell Harper about this. Or Alex. Harper will be very hurt if she hears about this."

Justin nodded. "Deal."

* * *

"Hey Zeke." Harper chirped, as soon as she saw him. "Wanna go to the 'smart club' today?"

Zeke looked down. "I am sorry Harper but… I can't. I really need to do some work today."

"Okay." Harper smiled. (_How can she be so understanding? If this was Alex, she would have totally thrown a fake tantrum and managed a dinner and movie date for the future.)_ "That's okay, Zeke-peak. So, what are you doing today?"

Zeke gulped, licking his lips. "Umm, I have got some work….. At home. Yeah. Gotta go to class now. See you later Harper."

Zeke rushed off immediately, and Harper stood there, blinking. "Did you see that Alex?" she yelled immediately. "Zeke is hiding something."

"Calm down." Alex said quickly.

"How can I calm down when I am losing my boyfriend?" Harper started hyperventilating. "He's not telling me where he is going to be. That is definitely a sign that he's seeing someone else." Harper sniffled. "Excuse me." And ran off into the bathroom.

Alex thought of following her friend, until she saw Justin. _Well, he should definitely know about his best friend's whereabouts. Or he IS actually just a piece of junk in her life. _

"Justin I need your help." She whispered, walking up to him quickly.

"Not tonight Alex. I have some work to do." Justin replied sadly.

Alex glared at him. (_Yeah. Tantrum). _"What work is more important than helping your _little sister?"_ (_Little sister emotional blackmail never fails.) _

Justin gulped, licking his lips. "Umm, I have got some work….. At the library. Yeah. Gotta go to class now. See you later Alex."

Justin rushed off immediately, and Alex stood there, blinking. (_Okay. The little sister thing didn't work. But hey, everything has a first time.)_

Her eyes grew wide in alarm.

_Oh. My. Gosh. Was he seeing someone as well? Was Justin seeing someone else? _

* * *

The two female best friends spent the rest of their days brooding, and the two male best friends spent the rest of the day feeling guilty about lying.

Zeke and Justin went to the store in the evening, and were able to pick out a keyboard.

"I am still 5 dollars short." Zeke announced.

"I'll lend you five dollars." Justin said quickly.

"Aww, thanks Justin." Zeke smiled, and then frowned. "But maybe I should really buy Harper that dress she wanted."

"Zeke!" Justin scolded. "You have been typing _optics _as _0ptics_ for MONTHS. You NEED that keyboard NOW."

Zeke nodded, giving in.

* * *

Back at home in the evening, the two girls sat in Alex's room, discussing.

"I still can't believe Zeke is cheating on me." Harper said sadly.

"I still can't believe Justin has a girlfriend. _And_ he did not tell me!" Alex muttered under her breath. (_Who was he dating his time? A mermaid?)_

"This is such a bad situation. It's not like we can use magic to figure out what they are doing! It's like…" Harper paused, her eyes growing at alarm. "Alex, why are you looking at me like that?"

Alex just grinned mischievously. "Harper. You are awesome."

* * *

"**Please please, tell me now, is there something I should know, Deranium, Deranius."**

Alex cast the spell, and stood in front of the screen with Harper, watching.

The screen showed Justin and Zeke…. Hugging?

The two girls gasped in unison, their mouth's hanging open, their eyes bulging out of their skull.

_Justin was dating Zeke?_

"I can't believe this!" Alex yelled. "Justin is dating Zeke! Of all people! Now I see it. The alien league meetings, the classes, the late night tweets, the hanging out together all the time…"

"Umm, Alex, we do those stuff as well." Harper pointed out.

"Would you just let me be mad at him?" Alex hissed.

"Maybe we are just misunderstanding. I mean.. Come on! They can't be _dating." _Harper reasoned.

"Then why were they lying? Why didn't they just tell us that they'll hang out?" Alex shot back. (_Once in her life, Alex Russo was being logical and rational. She would have written it down in her dairy, if she actually had a diary that is.)_

"I am going to confront him today." Alex announced firmly.

"What if he denies and lies again?" Harper asked.

Alex scoffed. "It's Justin. Trust me, I know how to work him. I know how to make him crack under pressure."

Harper nodded. "Yeah. You do… I just", before passing out. (_That girl has such a weak heart. Aww!) _

* * *

Justin returned thirty minutes after Harper regained consciousness, and Harper passed out in anticipation once again after she heard his voice. Alex ignored her for the time being, and focused on Justin. She entered his room, closing and locking the door behind her.

"Hey, Alex?" Justin arched an eyebrow questioningly.

"I know what's going on." Alex narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her. (_How to make Justin spill the truth. Step 1: Cut to the chase.)_

"Yeah?" Justin asked nervously, running his hands through his hair. "What are you talking about?" he scoffed, and started backing up, with Alex walking up towards him, until his back hit the wall, and she was inches away.

":Don't even try." Alex snarled. "I know what's going on here." (_Step 2: Act confident.)_

"You do?" Justin asked nervously. "I mean… Pfft. There's nothing going on."

Alex stomped his left foot with her boot, and he winced in pain. "Stop lying to me Justin. It's no use. I know everything." (_Hey, he deserved it!)_

Justin eyes grew wide in alarm again. (_That would have been the perfect picture for the school's front wall.)_ "I…. how did you… figure it all out?"

She shrugged. "That's not important. Now tell me, Justin, why did you do this?" she glared at him, with all her fury. (_Step 3: glare at him. he can't lie looking at someone's eyes.)_

Justin cringed. "I… I am really sorry Alex. I know you must be pretty disgusted with me now…"

"_Disgusted_?" Alex asked incredulously. "Harper is CREEPED OUT. How could you do this to her?"

Justin cringed again. "I know it's not normal…"

"It's pretty normal." Alex snapped. "But I don't get it Justin.. Why Zeke? Harper was so happy…"

Justin creased his eyebrows together in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I am talking about you dating Zeke." Alex replied incredulously.

"WHAT!" Justin jumped back in alarm. "Ew! No! I am not dating Zeke! Alex, gross! He's my brother."

Alex blinked. "So… you are not dating Zeke?"

"No." Justin shook his head quickly, and violently for emphasis.

"Then why did you lie about hanging out with him today?" Alex asked suspiciously (_And partly in relief.) _

"Because." Justin sighed. "Because Harper wanted a dress. And I forced Zeke to use the money to buy a keyboard for himself… Harper would have been mad if she knew."

"Then why did you lie to me?"

"You are Harper's best friend! You would have told her." Justin reasoned.

Alex shrugged. (_Whatever. Who care about the details?)_

Justin grinned. "But you know what, it's good to see you care about me."

Alex scoffed. "Pfft… no… I don't care about you… I was just…. Scared... that I'd have to be the one to tell mom and dad…. Is all."

Justin's grin widened. "Denial is not another river in Egypt."

"What did _you_ think we were talking about, Justin?" Alex shot back.

The grin vanished from his face, and he swallowed nervously. _He totally did not think Alex figured out that he loved her. Because he didn't love her. Pfft… ridiculous. Totally ridiculous. _

"I think you should talk to Harper now, explain to her everything…." Justin replied instead.

Alex eyed him up and down suspiciously for a few moments, and finally nodded and gave in. (_She'll deal with it some other time.) _

Justin sighed in relief. Phew! He almost confessed to her- and himself- that he was in love with her.

This would have never happened if Zeke didn't want him to lie. _Ugh! This was totally his best friend's fault!" _

**

* * *

(A/N: long chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Just so we are clear, I have nothing against homosexuality. I found the idea of Alex and Harper thinking that Justin and Zeke are dating funny. The next update will be on Friday, depending on your reviews. So yeah, review for faster update!)**


	17. Ch 16: Be honest

**Disclaimer: I do not own wowp**

**Dedication: this chapter is in fond memory of my 5 month old kitten, who has been missing since last night. I am really missing her right now; she used to paw my keyboard and mess up my typing… :(**

**Chapter 16: be honest **

* * *

She walked back to her room, thinking about what Justin might have thought she figured out (_He probably thought it was about some lame stuff, like that new doll he bought, right?)_, and found Harper, conscious by that time, sitting with her Zeke-scrapbook in her lap, crying. (_Ugh! What's that sinking feeling in the chest called again?)_

She sat down on the bed nervously, and began explaining everything to Harper.

"I told you it had to be some misunderstanding! But you just had to jump to conclusions." Harper yelled. "Oh God, I am so stupid! I just called Zeke up and told him that I want nothing more to do with him!"

"What!" Alex yelled back. "Why did you do that?"

"Well, what would you do when you think your boyfriend is gay?" Harper shot back.

_Good point. But you know, she'd probably kick his butt first for lying to her. _

"Okay, then…. Just call him up and fix everything." Alex suggested, followed by a non-chalant shrug.

Harper stared at her in disbelief. "You mean you won't help me?"

Alex scoffed. "Why will I help you?" _(Hello! Newsflash: helping people is not an Alex Russo thing!) _

Harper blinked. "Because… it's your fault!"

Alex shrugged again, and sank down on the bed. "Well then, just call him up and tell him this was my fault. See. It's that easy… moving on." She grabbed her cell phone, and started texting people. (_People? Pfft. She was sending forwards to Justin to annoy him.)_

Harper shook her head in disappointment, grabbed her cell phone (_More like clumsily snatched it from the table. Klutz) _and speed-dialed the number. The phone rang, and her heart skipped a beat.

"Put the phone on speaker." Alex ordered, grabbing a pillow and making herself comfortable. (_Harper and Zeke would always be a great show. Let's watch, ladies and gentlemen.) _

"Hello?" Zeke answered, and of course he sounded like he had been crying. _Typical. (It's a wonder how Justin and Zeke were so similar and best friends, while Alex and Harper were so different yet best friends!) _

"Oh, Zeke! I am _so _sorry!" Harper began immediately; talking a hundred words a minute. "I didn't mean it. It was all a big misunderstanding. And it wasn't even my fault. It was totally my best friend's fault!"

Alex stared at her in disbelief. _Oh great! Now people start stealing her dialogs? Perfect. There should be a copyright infringement case filled against Harper! And maybe she can earn 1000 dollars from it? Well, one step at a time towards world domination. _

"What do you mean?" Zeke asked in confusion, blowing his nose on a tissue.

Alex's face contorted in disgust. "Ew!" she said out loud. "Gross, Zeke!"

"Alex is there too?" Zeke asked in confusion.

Alex rolled her eyes. (_They get A+ in Math and F- in common sense.) _"Zeke, Harper and I live in the same house, remember?"

"Shhh!" Harper hissed at her, and then returned her attention to Zeke. "Zeke, I am really sorry."

"No, I am sorry." Zeke cut her off. "Harper, I need to tell you the truth. I don't like lying to you…. I was not at home today. I went to the stores with Justin to buy a new keyboard. I didn't want you to know because I thought you'd be upset…"

Harper laughed. "Why will I be upset?"

"Well. You wanted that dress last week…"

Harper scoffed. "Zeke. I said I liked that dress. I didn't saw I want you to buy it for me… I bought it myself."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Harper chirped excitedly. "I have been working on it, you know, Harper-ising it."

Alex sighed. _Another awesome dress is totally ruined. Isn't there a spell to give someone a tiny bit of fashion sense?_

"Oh." Zeke muttered. "Well then, are we cool?"

"Yeah, totally." Harper squealed instantly.

Alex sat up in the bed, yawning. _(Even with the squealing, this is still pretty boring.)_

"But I want you to promise me something Zeke." Harper said sternly.

"Anything, Harpie-doll." (_Remind her to call Justin names, not nicknames.)_

"You won't lie to me again, okay?"

"Okay." Zeke agreed instantly.

After around 30 minutes of lame, corny mush-talk (_thankfully the speaker was off and she could only hear half of it. Phew!)_, they finally hung up. Alex yawned theatrically, hoping Harper would get her point. Of course she didn't! She was lost in her own dream world.

"Oh Zeke!" she sighed dreamily.

Alex scrunched up her nose in disgust. (_If this sap-thing goes on, she might end up dry and dead soon enough.) _

Alex rolled her eyes, and got up from the bed.

"Honesty is really important in relationships, don't you think?" Harper asked her suddenly.

"Yeah, sure." Alex shrugged non-chalantly, and crept out of the room. (_Any longer, and she would have actually had to say sorry to Harper. Not happening!)_

* * *

Tuesday midnight, and she still couldn't sleep. The words stuck in her head like that chewing gum stuck below the table which she has to remove during detention (_and stick again the next day. Okay.) _She could hear Harper's voice- "Honesty is really important in relationships."

_Ugh. Fine. She might as well be honest with Justin._

* * *

She crept into his room, into his bed (_Stop fantasizing!)_, and slowly began to shake him. "Justin." She whispered softly. (_It should be totally illegal for hot guys to sleep in boxers.)_

He groaned, moving away.

_Fine. She'll just do it the hard way then!_

"Justin!" she snapped in a higher tone, beating him with a pillow.

"No! Go away! Captain Jim Bob Sherwood would help me!" he yelled in alarm, sitting up on the bed instantly.

_Captain Jim Bob Sherwood? Really? Please! He isn't real! __It's not like they won a contest to write the comic, got into a fight, their parents asked them to 'sort it out like they sort their problems out', and used magic to bring Jim Bob to life. _

He panted, sighed and glared at her in annoyance. "What now, Alex?"

"I need to tell you something." She told him matter-of factly.

He groaned. "At the middle of the night?"

"Yup." She nodded. (_That's kind of why she woke him up, duh!)_

"Fine. Shoot it." he yawned sleepily, turning on the bedside light. (_He probably figured she wouldn't leave without saying it, which was true. Yeah, he knows her well.)_

"Ok." She gulped nervously, licking her lips. (_No turning back now.)_ "I was spilling ink over your book in class instead of taking notes."

"Thats' new." Justin mumbled sarcastically. "

"...and Mr. Laritate caught me. I told him it's your book, but he still confiscated it. He said you'd have to get it back from him."

"Ugh, fine." Justin said, rubbing his sleepy eyes. (_Wow. He took this unusually well… what is wrong with him?) _"Which book did you ruin, by the way?"

Alex shrugged. "Angel Sanctuary."

"WHAT!" A wide-eyed Justin yelled, jumping up in surprise. (_His expression would have got tons of hits on the internet. Every time she thinks he can't surprise her any more, he comes up with a new facial expression. This time, he looked like he had been sucked into the Bermuda Triangle... wait, what was that thing again?)_

"Shhh!" Alex hissed, "You'll wake up mom and dad!"

"MR. LARITATE HAS MY ANGEL SANCTUARY? OH MY GOSH!" He panicked, pulling on his hair.

_Yeah. That's more of the reaction she had been expecting… except, why did he freak out like _that? _Wasn't it supposed to be yelling and 'I hate you Alex'?_

"Yeah… what's wrong with that?" Alex asked in confusion. "It's not the first time this has happened."

"You don't know what's wrong with that?" he asked in disbelief.

"Nope."

"Didn't you read that book?" he almost yelled again. (_She's sitting just two feet away. No need of yelling! Seriously, these people have hearing problems or something.)_

"Justin! I don't read!" she pointed out.

She heard him mumble something under his breath, but couldn't hear the words properly. (_Justin couldn't possibly he cursing, right? Pfft… and Atlantic Ocean is a mountain. Yeah, ridiculous.) _He sighed... _in relief?__  
_

"Anything else you want to tell me?" He asked through gritted teeth. (_See! This is why she prefers lying! It's totally people's fault!)_

"No." she replied quickly. (_If he's gonna be mad at her for being honest, then fine. He will have to figure out for himself that the toothpaste isn't toothpaste.)_

"Then do me a favor. GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" he snarled at her.

She cringed; glaring at him (_He kept lecturing her about hospitality. This was his definition of hospitality?)_ and got out of the room angrily. (_She will get back at him tomorrow. She needs sleep for her devious brain to work properly.)_

He sighed, and sank back down on his bed.

_How the hell was he going to explain to Mr. Laritate why he was reading an incest-themed manga?_

He sighed, got up again, and against his better judgment, went to Alex's room, knocked on her door.

"Yes, Justin?" she asked in an irritated tone from the other end. (_He totally did not just stir her fantasies.) _

He took that as a 'come in' and entered her room. She just rolled over to a side, not bothering to get up. (_Justin wasn't worth that much trouble.)_

He sat down at the edge of the bed, looking down at the ground. "I need your help."

She chuckled. "Why will I help _you_?" (_Million dollar question. Why will Lex Luther help Superman?)_

"Because you got me into this mess!" he snapped in disbelief. "It is totally your fault that Mr. Laritate has my Angel Sanctuary!"

_Ugh! Why are people blaming her for everything today? Seriously?_

"Why do you even need my help?" she asked in confusion. "Mr. Laritate knows how much we hate each other. You just need to walk into his office and he'll just hand it over to you!"

He swallowed, and she heard him inhale sharply. "Umm… that book… it has some… umm… _unclean _stuff." He cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable.

She gasped. _What! Justin read those stuff? Weird… hmm. Something's surely up with that book. She'll definitely have to check it out herself. _

She quirked an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I need your sneaky, conniving advice to trick Mr. Laritate and get out of this trouble." He clarified.

_That should cost him 50 bucks, right?_

He handed her the money silently, without her even asking him. _(Wow. He knew her too well! It would have been better if he didn't. There were high chances of that money being 100 bucks!)_

A devious idea formed in her mind. She had the perfect plan to get Justin out of trouble _and_ to get a hold of that book. "Ok… here's what you do."

**

* * *

(A/N: sorry if this sucked. I updated because I promised, and I keep my promises. I am terribly depressed right now. My poor little kitten's missing, and I am feeling horrible. I don't even care for reviews right now! Please just pray that she comes back to me soon and safe. Your prayers really work guys! BTW, next chapter will be awesome. So wait a while for it. I need to get in a better mood and write it properly.)**


	18. Ch 17: Walk into her trap

**Disclaimer: I do not own wowp. BTW my Mr. Laritate will be totally OOC. I don't live in US; I have no idea about cowboy lingo. I am not pleased, but deal with it?**

**(A/N: **Thanks so much for praying guys, my kitten IS back! I am so happy!**)**

**Chapter 17: walk right into my trap **

**

* * *

**

"I don't think that's a good idea." Justin commented, as soon as Alex finished narrating the plan to him

_Of course he wouldn't! They had agreed to disagree throughout their lives, after all. Yeah, the glass is not half empty, it's half filled._

"Why not?" She protested, crossing her arms. "It's totally believable. It will totally work… well, unless you blow it off." She snorted. "Yeah, that could be a problem."

_How about he stays at home and learns acting from her, instead of going to college? She would be a __good teacher__. Wink, wink. _

He ignored her comment. "I don't like lying… Lying is not a good thing."

_Blah blah blah. Earplugs? Anyone? _

She shrugged. (_Manipulation time.) _"Fine, don't lie. I mean, what's the worst that can happen to you? Mr. Laritate may get worried that 'the-perfect-boy' is getting ruined, and will call mom and dad and tell them everything. They will probably be upset for weeks, and you'll probably he grounded for the first time in your life… worst scenario- they will kick you out of the house."

_Pssh. She knew they wouldn't do any of that. He's an adult! He can totally read adult material! Which boy his age doesn't? _

Justin's eyes looked like they would bulge out of his skull- the same look he had when Max had glued his wand to Alex's book. (He never found that wand again. she never bothered to search for the book.) "That could be a problem." He mumbled.

She rolled her eyes and held up her hands in the air. "Thank you! That's what I was trying to say!" she rested a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him. "Why take a risk, Justin?"

He looked at her suspiciously. (_Which is totally unfair! She's sitting right in front of his eyes! It's not like she's using magic to throw water over his head from behind! That was just one time.)_

"What?" she whined, unable to stand his staring. (_Unless he was looking down her tank top, which he wasn't. Boo. Will it kill him to stop being decent with her?) _

He narrowed his eyes. "Why are you risking yourself?"

She shrugged indifferently, and scoffed. "What's the worst that can happen to me? Mr. Laritate will think it was another one of my genius pranks, and give me detention."

_She was getting detention for not turning in her Spanish assignment anyway._

He stared at her in disbelief. "And you are doing all this for nothing?"

_Umm, she's doing this to get a hold of that book? And to get out of the beauty spa with her mother Wednesday evening, okay. _

"You already paid me fifty bucks!" she pointed out. "I'll take the rest later." She added, grinning mischievously.

He shook his head, and sighed. "Fine… Good night Alex…"

"Night." She whispered, drifting back to sleep.

* * *

On Wednesday morning, Justin stood in front of Mr. Laritate's office, and took in a deep breath. He reminded himself that everything was going to be alright, that he wouldn't be busted, because, come on, just because someone is reading a book on incest doesn't mean he/she is committing incest in his/her personal life! Mr. Laritate would probably understand if he told him the truth, he wouldn't suspect him, right?

He remembered Alex's words. Yeah, why take a risk?

He took in another deep breath, and entered the office.

"Hey, Mr. Laritate." He greeted nervously.

"Mr. Russo. There you are!" Mr. Laritate interjected. "Sit down, little filly."

Justin nodded, and obeyed. "Umm… Alex told me you wanted to see me?"

Mr. Laritate raised an eyebrow. "Didn't she tell you why?"

Justin gulped nervously. "Umm…no?"

Mr. Laritate sighed. "I confiscated your book from her."

"Oh…" Justin cleared his throat uncomfortably. (_Yeah, he's the best actor in the whole world, if the world consisted of him and the four walls of the office.)_ "I didn't notice any of my books were missing…. Which book is it?"

"Your Angel Sanctuary." Mr. Laritate announced.

By the blessings of the Almighty, Justin didn't pass out. Instead, he cocked an eyebrow, pretending to be surprised. "I don't have an Angel Sanctuary."

Mr. Laritate gasped. "You don't?"

"Nope." Justin announced quickly. (_A little too quickly, but when Johnny Honest lies, everyone believes him.)_

"Oh… so Alex set up all this." Mr. Laritate frowned. "That little cowgirl is swinging her lasso too much."

Justin frowned too, pretending to be disappointed. "Yeah, she's starting to get out of line… Uh, I am really sorry about this Mr. Laritate. Why don't you just give me the book, and I'll talk to her?"

"No." Mr. Laritate announced. "I would like to talk to her personally. Tell her to come and meet me in the office. I will return the book to her..."

"It's okay, Mr. Laritate." Justin tried desperately. "I know you are busy. I can talk to Alex."

"No. I will talk to Alex." Mr. Laritate repeated sternly. "Now go cowboy up, buckaroo!"

He nodded, and exited the office, sweating. It could be a HUGE problem if the book landed in Alex's hands. What if she figured out everything?

Justin scoffed. Pfft… Alex doesn't read!

* * *

Alex exited the office with the book in her hands and a confused scowl in her face. What was Mr. Laritate talking about? Why did he say she was disrespecting her relation with Justin? What does the book have to do with her and Justin?

_Ugh. Great. A book has got her curious! Now she might as well start drawing pie charts about ozone layer depletion... or organize a protest against cruelty towards animals. _

She shoved the book in her locker, and closed it.

"Hey Alex." Justin greeted, standing behind her. (_When will this stupid heart stop skipping beats?)_ "Where's the book?"

She turned around to face him, and creased her eyebrows together in confusion. "What book?"

His heart stopped breathing, his breath hitched, his eyes widened, his mind screamed in panic. "My Angel Sanctuary?" he asked in disbelief.

She shrugged innocently, slurping on her drink (_Ew, is this diet? Or does everything taste bad when she's looking at Justin's lips?)_. "Never heard of it before…"

He blinked. "He talked about it _last night!_"

She titled her head to the side, and pretended to think. "Really?"

He gasped. "You…. You conned me!"

_Doesn't she always?_

"Give it back Alex." He ordered sternly.

"I don't have it, Justin." She announced sweetly, batting her eyelashes.

He glared at her, his breath becoming irregular with growing anger. "Do you want me to tell mom that you are failing Spanish again?"

_Oh, so now he wants to play the blackmail game? Fine with her. _

She closed her eyes, and rubbed her forehead, pretending to remember something. "Ahh… now I _do_ remember something about it… that book, yeah… I was thinking about showing that book to mom and dad!"

_Did he REALLY think he'd have one over her? _

He gasped and jumped back in surprise. "You wouldn't!" he panicked.

She grinned. (_Yup, she got him again...) _"You are right, I wouldn't…. _If_ you finish my Spanish assignment for me."

"Deal." He replied without thinking.

"And my Math assignment." She added. (_Well, Harper can probably find it… she threw it in some corner of her room, it's not like she ate it up!)_

"Okay." He agreed again.

"I feel like pizza today." She announced.

"I will buy it." He gave in.

_Wow. He was THAT desperate? He would do anything? (Kiss her?)_

"Now please, give it back Alex!" he begged, sounding like he was ready to get on his knees and break down.

She creased her eyebrows together in confusion again. "Give what back, Justin?"

_Yup…there we go again._

* * *

On the subway ride, he sat beside her, rubbing his neck, his shoulders shrunk in exhaustion.

"Long day?" she asked softly.

He snorted. "What do you think?"

She grinned deviously, as she took his hand in hers and began to massage his weary fingers. (_See, this is why writing and studying should be banned.) _"I think the day's gonna get longer, Justin."

* * *

On Wednesday evening, she quickly finished her dinner, excused herself from her family plus Harper, locked her room, and sat down on her bed, ready to read.

She groaned, whined, and flipped the pages again and again, feeling drained to even think about reading it, even with all the pictures. Finally, she decided to just go for it and end her curiosity.

Her eyes grew wide, as she finished the volume. She quickly sat on her computer, and searched the internet for the next issues. Teardrops formed in the corner of her eyes, as she continued reading. (_Ugh. Now Alex Russo cries while reading books! Well, reading book does make her want to cry, but not this way!) _Her eyes kept growing wider in disbelief, as she finally finished reading it at 1 at midnight.

An incest themed anime?

The big question bothered her mind: why was Justin reading this?

Giving in to her impulsive nature (_When did she even try to resist it anyways?)_, she stormed into his bedroom, shaking him awake. "Wake up, Justin!"

**

* * *

(A/N: Cliffhanger! XD The big confrontation happens in the next chapter, so keep reviewing! BTW, happy friendship day everyone. I am SO glad to have you guys as friends!)**


	19. Ch 18: The big confrontation

**Disclaimer: I do not own WOWP…. but the poem in the beginning is mine!**

**(A/N: keeping in with the mood of this fic, let me keep it light-hearted comedy, and angst free, okay?)**

**Chapter 18: the big confrontation**

_Would you just stop being in denial?_

_It's been quite a while. _

_We need to talk this through right now._

_I have already busted you somehow. _

_From here it can go two ways-_

_You can finally say you love me, or I can make you say. _

_I don't really know what to expect._

_Let's just see what happens next._

* * *

She stormed into his bedroom, shaking him awake. "Wake up, Justin!"

He groaned, and rolled over to the other side. "Not now Alex!" he mumbled sleepily.

_Wow… love is calling, and he just tries to shut off the call? Really?_

She shook him again, this time, more violently. (_It's Justin- her annoying older brother. Why show mercy?)_ "Justin, we need to talk!"

"Now?" he whined, burying his face behind the covers. "Not again!"

She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "Why were you reading an incest-themed manga?"

That did it. He shot up in his bed at once, throwing the covers away. (_Yeah. People probably can't sleep when their secrets have been discovered by their arch enemy. Only exception to this rule? Alex Russo. She totally slept the night Justin trapped Gigi in her journal!)_

"What? I… Pfft…. What are you talking about!" he scoffed nervously, licking his lips.

_He wants her to EXPLAIN what she's talking about? Okay, how about this- I am talking about you wanting me?_

"Justin. Don't even try." She said sternly. She fixed him with her trademark glare, the one look that always got him. (_When he was seven, he peed in his pants in fear. That's what the combination of Alex Russo-glare and a wand in her hand does to you.)_

He scoffed again. "I don't need to _try._ I didn't do anything wrong!"

_Yeah. Justin Russo can't do anything wrong. He's an angel! (Angels fall.)_

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared at him. (_Hey, Justin in a boxer is totally hot and stare worthy!)_

He averted her gaze. "Stop staring at me." He snarled.

Her gaze intensified. (_No backing out now… Maybe her hands were shaking a bit, and her heart was beating a bit too fast. So what? It's not like Alex Russo is scared of confessing her love to her brother… Pfft.)_

"Hey!" he protested, his voice all panicky and squeaky. (_Yup, he's snapping all right.) _"Just because I am reading that book doesn't mean I have been in love with my little sister ever since the family vacation went wrong and have been trying to hide my feelings and stop myself from doing something stupid and sinful!" He ranted in one breath, stopping only to catch his breath. His eyes grew wide in alarm… did he just confess?

_Yup. He's officially the worst person at keeping a secret. They will definitely get caught in two minutes. And she will definitely manipulate her way out. _

She smiled in a teasing way. (_Another great victory for the evil genius!) _"Wow Justin… I didn't know you have been feeling this way so long."

He scoffed again. "I don't feel that way about you!"

"Yes you do!" Alex persisted, scooting closer to him. (_Come on, stupid male hormone, start working already!)_

"No I don't!" he denied, backing away.

"Do." (_Ugh! Why is her female hormone working? Wrong timing! She needs her brain to function properly now, okay?)_

"Don't!"

"Want me to prove it to you?" she challenged.

He huffed indignantly. "Good luck with that."

_She doesn't need luck. She just needs soft lips and a fresh breath (which she had)._

She crashed her lips on his, catching him completely off guard. (_It's his fault that he wasn't on guard! He should have known this was coming! He knows her for 17 years!)_

He remained numb, motionless. But she was Alex Russo; she wasn't giving in so easily. She kept pouring all her love, all her passion into the kiss. She flicked his lips with her tongue, and he groaned, his hands moving to her back. Her hands moved to his hair, gently tugging and pulling him closer to her. She had to _show him _how she felt. _When was Alex Russo good at talking her feelings out?_

**Finally**, he responded. She nearly sobbed in relief when he kissed her back, gently, softly, sweetly, unlike her wild lustful kiss.

A few minutes later, he broke the kiss, panting, wide eyed.

_Oh. Here comes the 'I kissed my little sister' realization. Okay. Just don't shriek. Or you'll wake up your mom and dad and get into jail. That would be awesome, since Alex Russo will no longer be considered the only bad child of the family…hmm._

"So you did kiss me during the movie!" he exclaimed.

_Okay so he didn't freak out like- Wait… what? _

"I thought I was going crazy…" he shook his head, rubbing his forehead with his hand in frustration, "having all those dreams about you… I thought I was hallucinating about that kiss… but you _did_ kiss me!"

She gasped. "How do you remember that?" she asked incredulously.

"Umm. You used the Mc Reary Time Reary spell. I am supposed to remember!" he began explaining. (_Aww, Justin looks so cute when he's being passionate about knowledge! Ugh, lecturing is boring!) _"Don't you remember that spell? Didn't you read the memos properly? And Alex, you are not supposed to use that spell! It causes a disturbance in the space-time continuum which, in severe cases, can lead to-"

"Justin!" she snapped, cutting him off. (_They were discussing incest, and he starts reprimanding her on proper use of magic! Really?)_

He sighed, and looked down at the ground. "Right… this is serious…. Alex, this…. this isn't right."

_Oh. Here comes the 'we shouldn't do this' lecture. Shut him up with another kiss? _

"Why not?" she had to ask, even though she knew it very well.

He looked at her in disbelief. "Because it's wrong!" he nearly shrieked.

_Pfft… she knows it's not right because it is wrong! How old does he think she is? 2 years?_

She placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "Justin, Justin, Justin…chill, dude." She whispered softly, placing a soft kiss on his forehead. (_Ugh. This sweet thing is SO not her and Justin! She NEEDS to steal his lunch box the next day.)_

He opened his mouth to protest again, but she silenced him with a chaste kiss.

"You remember that one time I wanted to go to Mars, and you didn't agree?" she whispered softly against his ear once they broke apart.

"Yeah, what about that?" he whispered back.

"In the end you had to give in." Alex recalled. She trailed her hands down his shoulders, his bare chest (_someone stop her from jumping him. please!). _He groaned in response, pushing her hand away. (_Only Justin can resist the girl he loves. Dork.)_ "Remember that time when you didn't want to buy me that new pair of sneakers but I stole your assignment and you had to?"

"Alex. I don't see your point." He snapped angrily.

_The point is she's manipulating him?_

"What I am trying to say is, in the end, you always end up doing what I want…" she whispered calmly. "You don't really have a choice Justin."

He stared at her in disbelief. "This is _way_ more serious, Alex!" he scolded, getting up from the bed and standing up.

"I know that." She snapped back.

He shook his head, facing the wall and leaning on it, his forehead touching the wall. (_No. Justin can't bang his head! It's gonna be hard explaining that to their parents.) _"You are my little sister Alex…"

She snorted. "Geez, thanks for letting me know Justin."

_Yeah. They are being so romantic. Sarcasm intended. _

"We can't do this." he sniffled.

_Justin is crying_? _And why does that make her heart ache? Wasn't making Justin miserable the mission of her life? Ugh, awesome!_

"Justin!" she whined, getting up from the bed as well and walking towards him. She placed an arm on his shoulder in a comforting manner, and he cringed. She grabbed his arm and turned him around, making him face her, and placed her hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look at her. "Don't fight it. Please." (_Alex Russo is saying please. Welcome to the corny side, Alex.)_

He closed his eyes, letting his hot tears flow down his cheeks, down the backside of her palm. "I am so sorry Alex. I know I shouldn't feel this way. I know we shouldn't do this." (_No one can resist that puppy dog face. Or the feeling of a hot girl pressed against him.)_

She wiped away the tears with the pad of her thumb. "It's not your fault that we are doing this." she whispered softly. "It's totally Harper's fault."

He opened his eyes swiftly, and what do you know? Again he stared at her in disbelief. "How is _this_ Harper's fault?"

She chuckled. "Long story." (_That should be around 17 chapters, right? But it's not like she's gonna write it. Pfft. She doesn't write!)_

A silence fell between them, a very frightening, uncomfortable silence, during which, the only sound they could hear was the ticking of the wall clock, and the faint sound of music drifting from a distance. He stood still, looking here and there uneasily.

_Of course she would have to be the one to make a move!_

She moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck possessively. "So… are you convinced yet, or do I need to manipulate you more?"

"I am convinced alright…" He smiled sadly. "I wish I could take things so lightly like you do… it must be pretty fun being you, huh?"

She shrugged. "It is pretty fun being me." (_Except the regular groundings, detention and scolding at school. And the rare occasions where her parents force her to study.)_

He stroked her hair, gently, lovingly. "Alex… you are amazing."

_She could use that one more time at breakfast next morning. Maybe her parents will buy her that cell phone if they think she's being nice to Justin? _

"And you are a total geek." She stuck out her tongue at him.

He darted his tongue out, entangling it with hers, and pushing it back into her mouth, along with his. She gasped in pleasure, caught by surprise.

_Justin can do _that? _Really_? _Okay, fine, Justin isn't as lame as she claimed him to be, which is kind of why she fell for him, duh!_

She moaned, giving in to the kiss, just feeling, and not thinking any more, not paying any heed to her surroundings.

When she opened her eyes and was able to catch her breath, she noticed that they had somehow stumbled to his bed, and he was on top of her.

_Yeah, she had to make the first move. And he's the guy. Maybe she should check his gender? Wink, wink. _

Her hand moved to the elastic of his boxer, and he quickly caught hold of her wrist and stopped her.

"Not again!" she whined underneath him.

He looked into her eyes meaningfully. "Not now."

"Why not?" she pouted. (_She's waited long enough for this!)_

"You are not legal yet." He pointed out.

_And the thing they are doing isn't legal either. They will end up in jail anyway. _

She sighed, too tired to manipulate him. (_Ugh. Why do humans have school in the morning?) _"Fine… can I just…. Stay with you tonight?"

He nodded, rolling over to the other side. (_Which was a relief from his weight, but she missed his feeling!)_

She snuggled close to him, closing her eyes.

"I am sorry." He mumbled again.

She placed her hand on his mouth and shut him up. The night slowly faded to dreams, as he kissed her fingertips…..

(_If he changed his mind the next morning, he was SO going to get rotten eggs for breakfast.)_

**

* * *

(A/N: there you go. They are finally together. Did you like this? Please review! BTW, this is NOT the end, and Justin WILL feel guilty like he should. The next update will be a bit late, probably in mid-August, because I need to finish a jalex two-shot first AND my life got TOO busy. I will be officially off the jalex zone by 2011 :() **


	20. Ch 19: Happy realization to you, Alex

**Disclaimer: I do not own WOWP... **

**Chapter 19: Happy realization to you, Alex**

* * *

On Thursday morning, an alarm blaring at high pitch disturbed her peaceful sleep, and she groaned, feeling like she could sleep for another 5 hours. She reached to her right to shut the stupid thing off, and realized it wasn't there. Her eyes grew wide in realization, and she shot up in the bed. She was still in Justin's room! _(And of course he had set the alarm for 5 a.m. 5 A.M.? Is he even human? What is he? The… the dawn-wolf?) _

"Good morning." Justin mumbled from his study desk. (_He woke up at 5 A.M to study? And that too, the night after he kissed his sister? Yeah, that confirms the Justin-is-not-human theory... __They are not normal people anyways__.) _

She glared at the offending object at her left and slammed it shut with a furious bang of her fists. (_Why are alarm clocks made of metals? Why can't it be paper or plastic?) _

"Uh, someone's a little grumpy this morning." He teased, smirking at her. "Couldn't sleep because of excitement?"

She **so** wanted to wipe that smug look off his face. "No. I couldn't sleep because my annoying older brother kept snoring all the time."

His face turned grim, and he mumbled the word 'brother'.

_Ugh! No! Not the guilt part! Not at 5 in the morning! _

Before he could speak any further, she quickly got up from the bed, stole his (_Physics, chemistry, math, whatever) _book right in front of his eyes and exited the room, ignoring his calls of protests.

She threw the book at the floor of her room (_Why are books unbreakable while cell phones are breakable?)_ and jumped into her bed to sleep, preferably all day. (_It's gonna be so hard sharing a room/bed with Justin for the rest of her life.) _

* * *

After her mother shook her awake at 8 with yelling and threats of grounding, she also made a shocking announcement at the breakfast table that shook everyone to the core. Cries of protests filled the Russo breakfast table soon.

"Mom! You can't make me." Alex stomped her feet.

"Watch me." Her mother returned.

"Daddy!" she whined, turning to her father.

Her father glanced at a glaring Theresa from the corner of his eye, before shrugging. "I support whatever wise decision your mother takes." (_Just a look from her mother shuts her father up, and she has to go through all sorts of manipulations to make Justin do what she wants? Why can't he be more like Justin, and Justin be more like him?) _

"Doesn't anybody want to know what I think about this?" Max asked.

"No." The four other Russos replied in unison.

"Umm, you guys", Harper interrupted. "I think you should at least listen to what Max has to say."

"Fine." Theresa gave in. "Yes, Maxie?"

Max's face lit up in excitement of finally being appreciated. (_Don't get used to it.) _"I think using dried leaves and cow-dung to dye our clothes is awesome!"

His parents sighed, his siblings dead-panned, Harper shook her head.

"Max! We are not talking about cow-dung here." Alex snapped in an annoyed tone. "We are talking about how my back-stabbing cruel parents want me to tutor you!" she yelled, standing up. "I mean, doesn't anybody care about me at all? How can I tutor _Max?_ Does he even know what N comes after M?"

Max gasped. "N comes after M? Hang on." Max closed his eyes and paused to think. "A B C D E F G I J K L M N O P… Oh my gosh, N does come after M!"

The other two men simply shook their head- they had heard this before, up to W.

Theresa and Harper's eyes widened dramatically.

Alex groaned and whined, sinking back to the chair in despair. "Why are you guys doing this to me?"

"Sweetie", Theresa patted her back comfortingly. "I am sure you will be fine. I mean, tutoring him wouldn't kill you… it wouldn't be so bad."

Justin stared at them all in disbelief. "Doesn't anybody here care about Max? What if he ends up failing? I mean, guys, hello? You are asking _Alex_ to tutor your precious little son?"

Alex turned around to face him, crossed her arms, and gave him a dirty look. "You think I can't tutor someone?"

"Yup." Justin replied honestly. "I think you can't tutor someone. Not unless it's tutoring on 'how to mess with Justin'. And I think Max is doing pretty fine in that department, right Max?" he glared at his brother, still holding a grudge for that 400 dollars which ended up in his hands.

Alex glared at him for a moment, before shrugging and chuckling. "Yeah, you are right." And an idea hits her. "_But_ I think _you_ can tutor Max, right Justin?"

Justin shook his head immediately, freezing in fear, as his parents glanced at each other for affirmation.

"Why are you guys looking at me like that? No way!" he protested immediately. "I am not doing it! This was supposed to be a punishment for Alex, not me!"

"Fine." Alex grinned. "I will tutor Max then. Just give me 3 days, mom. I want to read a book that Justin gave me." She looked at him, smirking evilly.

Once again, he froze in fear.

"Justin gave you a book?" her mother gasped. "What book?"

She opened her mouth to speak and-

"I will tutor Max." Justin cut in. "I will do it."

The sneaky devil grinned. (_Justin is just too easy! Did he really think she was gonna tell her mom that her brother gave her Angel Sanctuary? Please! She is not planning on giving them out… Plus, it's way too valuable as blackmail material. She can totally blackmail him with that for the rest of their lives under their parents' roof.) _"His text book…. I borrowed it from him this morning. I need to finish spilling ink on all the formulas."

Justin heaved a sigh of relief that thankfully went unnoticed by everyone.

Theresa frowned, placing a hand on her hip, "Alex. Stop messing with your brother!"

She shrugged, munching her food happily. (_Mission accomplished. Max is still acting dumb. Harper is still acting love-sick. She is out of tutoring Max. And Justin is glaring at her at the moment. See- everyone's happy.) _

* * *

At school, and he was still acting annoyed with her.

"Justin, would you just get over it?" she rolled her eyes, until another of her genius ideas hit her. "Unless you want me to _make it up to you."_

He turned around, ready to scold her. "You can't use _that_ to get away with everything. I am not gonna fall for that. I am not-"

_And he totally shut up when she placed a hand on his arm. (Men are so easy.)_

He yanked his hand away from her grasp quickly, and continued his ranting. (_Justin should come with a pause and a forward button. At least a mute button!)_ "You know I was planning to build a new robot before I go to college. But you still _had to_ set me up for tutoring Max, right? Will it really hurt you to be nice to me sometimes?"

_Yup. But she's not saying that out loud when he's mad at her. _

"Justin…I…"

He ignored her, walking away.

_Great. Just last night they hooked up, and they already started fighting this morning! Wait… was this a couple-y fight? This was a sibling fight, right?_

She glanced at her best friend from the corner of her eye, watching her smile sweetly, talking to Zeke with all the love in the world. (_EW)_

And the great realization hit her then- now that she was dating Justin; shouldn't she start being all nice and lovey-dovey?

"Happy realization to you, Alex." She mumbled sarcastically, before groaning and walking away. (_This might just be the worst torture she has ever faced in her life.) _

**

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(A/N: my exams start in mid-September, so deal with my late updates while I juggle my different fics and different fandom :P please review, BTW! Could I make you smile/laugh in this chapter? Next chapter will be hilarious, with Alex being nice to Justin. Don't worry, I wont go OOC. ) **


	21. Ch 20: Acting nice, loveydovey

**Disclaimer: I know some of you guys say this fic is very IC, but believe me, I don't own WOWP :P**

**(A/N: this chapter is dedicated to someone special in my life, someone who showed me how to be non-judgmental, who taught me to chase my dreams- whatever I write today is because of that special someone.) **

**

* * *

Chapter 20: Acting nice, lovey-dovey**

On Thursday, during lunch, Alex decided it was time to be 'nice' to Justin. She started by spilling her drink on his old jeans instead of his favorite tee-shirt, as she had originally intended; and by stealing only half of his lunch, letting him eat the other half.

* * *

On the ride in the subway, Alex decided it was time to act lovey-dovey. She started by sitting sat next to him, and resting her head on his shoulder. He panicked, immediately looking around everywhere to see if anyone they knew saw the gesture. (_Hello! Harper and Max are standing RIGHT in front of them!) _

She wrapped her arms around him, and breathed in deeply. "Justin, relax."

It was not her fault if that had the exact opposite effect on him!

* * *

When they returned home and were working their shifts at the sub-shop, he finally spoke to her.

"Alex. That's for Table 5." He ordered, holding up the tray in the kitchen counter.

By the sound of his voice, she concluded that he was tired, and decided that he needed her gentle touch. So when he went to hand her the tray, she gently brushed her knuckles against his hand.

It was not her fault that he suddenly jerked back and the tray flew in the air, its contents accidentally landing on their father's head!

* * *

Homework time (_Well, his. Her texting time) _and she decided to help him with his studies. (_Ugh, nobody asked you to gasp!)_ So she took out the papers from his study file, and arranged them in alphabetical order, just the way she knew he liked.

When he sat on the desk, his eyes grew wide and he had a mini panic attack. (_And you always wondered why Justin was glad that he was born in a hospital with a CPR certified doctor?) _

It was not her fault that he had numbered the pages and arranged them in that numerical order!

* * *

Dinner time, and he asked Max to pass him the salt. She quickly reached over, and handed him the ceramic bottle, smiling sweetly at him.

It was not her fault that her mother kept salt and powdered sugar in identical containers!

* * *

"I'm so sorry Justin! I didn't mean it… any of these." she apologized as soon as he completed ranting for the second time. (_What? She would still not apologize for her pranks. But these weren't pranks- these were genuine accidents. Actually, now that she thought about it, she hadn't pranked him properly that day. Hmmm…) _

He glared at her, not buying it, and stormed off to his room.

She sighed, plopping down on the couch beside Harper. "So, anything new?" (_Translation: anything other than the usual Zeke talk?) _

Harper started immediately. "Did you hear what Nelly told Jess, who told Liz, who told- hang on, let me pick up the call…. Hi Zeke-meek."

Alex groaned, burying her face in her hands. _Of course_ Harper did not get the hint. She placed a cushion in her lap, and began her mushy conversation. "So, tell me about your day…"

She didn't want to hear what Zeke said (_Robot president. Remember?) _and thankfully, didn't have to. She could only hear Harper's part of the conversation. _(Where are the earplugs when you really need them?) _

"Oh… I am sorry it was only a dream… but you know, maybe you'd meet a real alien someday!"

Alex blinked. "Harper! Since when did _you_ start believing in aliens?"

"Hang on a second Zeke." Harper hissed at her. "Shhh! I don't. I am just trying to be there for him. Now stay quiet!"

And she did stay quiet. You _need to_ stay quiet when you are trying to sneak out of the room.

* * *

She entered his room without knocking (_that one will never change) _and found him sitting at his desk, rearranging the papers back to its original arrangement. (_Okay, fine. So she messed it up. What's the big deal? It's just 100 something pages. He can totally arrange them again in no time!) _

She headed straight to his chair, and placed her hands on his shoulders. It was not her fault that he hadn't notice her coming and suddenly jumped up in fear, throwing all the papers on the floor and scattering them-again!

"ALEX!" he yelled, rushing towards the paper.

She bit her lip, holding back the insults. Harper _never_ insulted Zeke. She should never insult Justin either. (_And for that she needs to visit the wizard doctor and ask him to seal her lips.) _

"See what you did!" he hissed, picking up the papers and placing them on the table with a thud. "Now I have to do it all over again!"

"Justin… I am sorry."

"Stop saying that!" he snapped fiercely, and she automatically took a step back. "I know you are not! Just don't say what you don't mean!"

"I mean it." She persisted.

He scoffed in response.

_Okay, fine, time for plan B: grab him and kiss him till he's crazy. _

"Alex!" he hissed, grabbing her by her hair. "You can-t", a quick smack, "use this to", a lick of her upper lip, "get away with", a bite on the bottom one, "everything!"

She grinned. "Sure I can." Tongue darting into his mouth. A moan. A groan. Tongue darting back out. Panting. "Watch me." _(A relationship with Justin came with such great benefits!)_

Once they caught their breath, she sat down on the bed innocently, while he sat on his chair. "Alex. We need to talk about this."

She shrugged. "You mean you need to talk about this while I sleep?"

He titled his head to a side (_Why do people keep doing that? It doesn't give them X-ray vision!) _and stared at her. "Do you realizing what we are doing?"

"Umm, having a conversation?"

"Alex!"

"Okay, fine. _You're_ trying to have a conversation and _I'm_ trying to avoid it?"

He sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. (_She was still Alex Russo. And he was still a kill-joy. So nope, no 'this is wrong' speech.)_

"I… I am not sure about this." he murmured nervously.

Another demanding kiss later, she looked into his eyes. "Are you sure, now?" she grabbed the strings of his drawstring pants, and licked her lips suggestively. "Or do you need more convincing?"

"Alex!" he squeaked in panic. It was not her fault that her words hit him _hard._

She chuckled evilly. "Alex is my name, Justin. It's not an answer."

He sighed, wrapping his arms around her, and resting his head on hers. "Alex…" he breathed deeply, and this time, it was an answer.

She sighed in relief, hugging him back tightly.

"You have no idea how long I have felt like this." He breathed.

The 'ever since Newton invented Calculus' insult didn't escape her lips. (_Yeah, this IS the worst punishment ever.) _

"So…" she pulled back, sitting beside him. "How was your day?"

He quirked an eyebrow in suspicion, but began anyway, and that too, in an excited tone. "Today we did the ring experiment in chemistry."

_People- try pursing your lips together to hold back the groan and the scream._

She nodded, smiling enthusiastically at him, like Harper did with Zeke, except, it wasn't a genuine smile like Harper's.

"Can you believe a kid spilled nitric acid on the floor? What kind of student doesn't even know how to hold a test tube?"

_Umm, her kind of student?_

"And another kid was going to pour concentrated acid and a strong base in the same beaker." Justin continued. (_Base? Umm, didn't that mean bottom?) _"Good thing I stopped him, or it would have been such a great explosion! Phew!"

_Umm, she likes explosions. Especially in class. Or in Justin's room. She honestly doesn't realize the difference between the two places. _

"Yeah, thank goodness you were there." She smiled sweetly, patting his back, hoping he would be happy and shut up. _Of course_ that encouraged him to boast even more. (_Did he forget that he wasn't talking to his parents?) _

"And then, the teacher said that I could perform the fountain experiment for identification of ammonia."

_Umm, didn't fountain experiment mean setting up the sprinklers at school to go off like fountains at random hours? _

"Alex. It was so amazing!" he smiled.

She placed a hand on his arm. "I bet it was… I am glad you had fun at class today."

He shrugged. "I have fun at class every day. (_Good point). _So… how was your day?"

She shrugged too. "You know, the usual."

He nodded, not forcing her to explain more. "Umm… we've got school tomorrow, so…"

"Oh, yeah, right." She quickly got up. "Umm, goodnight Justin." She gave him a chaste kiss, and turned to walk away.

"Alex!" he yelled behind her, causing her to turn around and look at him. "What is wrong with you today?"

She creased her eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You haven't insulted me even once while you were here. Are you alright?" he asked, grabbing her hands and pulling her close to him, looking at her with concern.

_Gosh, no! They weren't going to die! _

She nodded her head quickly. "No, Justin, I am fine… I'm just…. Trying to be nice to you."

He gasped. (_Ugh! She already knows it's shocking!) _"Umm, why?"

She shrugged. "Well, Harper is nice to Zeke…"

He still had that blank look on his face. (_What a dork!)_

"They are dating." She continued. "So now that we are dating, we are dating, right?" he nodded seriously, and she began again. "So I thought I should, you know… be nice to you sometimes."

He smirked, shaking his head.

"What?" she whined. (_No, please, no. NO. NO. NO. Don't make a big fuss out of this!)_

He looked at her curiosity. (_She's not your action figure, Justin!) _"Do you realize it's not working for us?"

"Well, it's not working for _me_ alright." She snarled.

He laughed, putting his arms around us. "Alex. We are siblings. We are supposed to fight. We are not like Harper and Zeke. We are…" he swallowed, inhaling sharply. "We are not normal people."

She sighed, deciding to drop the lovey-dovey act. It was not her idea anyway- it was inspired by Harper.

Yeah, all the misadventures of the day were _totally _her best friend's fault!

**

* * *

(A/N: Oh, I will never get enough of that 'we are not normal people' dialog XD :P did you guys like this? I updated quickly because you reviewed a lot, plus, I had free time. Please send me your thoughts!)**


	22. Ch 21: Guilt

**Disclaimer: yeah, yeah, I don't own WOWP. But I do have a busy life. So, yeah, whatever. :P **

**Warning: Minor spoiler for 'Art Museum' episode from Season 1. **

**Additional disclaimer: please don't get offended by any of Alex/Justin's comments, specially a joke about 2 of my favorite English writers ever. I respect them just as much as you do. The comments are just for fun. It's just comedy! No offense is intended. **

**

* * *

Chapter 21: Guilt**

"Hey Justin, Zeke wants to talk to-" Harper opened the door to his room suddenly, and paused, noticing Justin and Alex engaged in a hug. "Umm, I will call you back later Zeke." She pressed the end button and hung up.

_Of course Justin had panicked and tried to break apart the moment Harper barged into the room (which was so unlike her… okay, love was messing up her etiquettes as well). Of course Alex didn't let him and thus managed to act normal. Justin owed her. Remember this. _

Harper cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Are you guys alright?"

Justin smiled nervously. "Yeah, we are fine… just… ummm."

"No we are not." Alex snapped, taking him by surprise. He was even more shocked to see the tears in her face. (_Who said she doesn't study? How else did she find the tear spell?) _She turned to Harper, and sniffled exaggeratedly. "We are missing them."

The confusion left Harper's face, and her features softened in understanding and sympathy. "Aww, I am so sorry Alex." She pulled best friend into a hug. (_EW. Harper's shoulders smell like armpits…probably Zeke's. GROSS!) _"It must be pretty hard for you without Mason. Well, I would be pretty upset without Zeke. Not that I would ever be without Zeke, cause you know, Zeke would never leave me, and if he did, then it would be pretty hard. I don't know what I will do without Zeke. But I guess I don't have to worry about that. I will never be without Zeke." She laughed nervously.

_Why did Harper have a mouth and two movable lips? _

"Umm, Harper!" Alex pulled back and held up her hands in the air.

"Oh, I am sorry, Alex." Harper apologized quickly. "It's just that, when I think of Zeke, I get so distracted, so lost in my thoughts… I wonder if this ever happens to him. I should ask him, because if it doesn't then it means that-"

"HARPER!"

"Sorry." Harper mumbled, retreating back a few steps.

Alex nodded. "I was missing Mason. He was missing Juliet." She spoke in a low voice, letting more tears flow. "We were just comforting each other."

Harper's face lit up with a bright smile. "Oh, it's good to see you guys getting along. This is such a great news. I should tell Zeke! I will call him right away. Bye guys!" with that, she opened the door and left the room.

"Alex are you-"

She held up a hand to silence him.

_Of course Harper returned within 2 minutes. _

"Oh, and Justin, I forgot to tell you that Zeke couldn't get through your cell phone. Please call him back."

Justin nodded, and Harper exited. Again.

"Phew!" Alex rubbed her hands together, as if wiping away imaginary dust from it, and wiped the tears from her face quickly. "See. Harper is just so easy when she's in her Zeke-world." she laughed, plopping down at the bed.

Justin looked down at the ground, his face still serious. "So…. You were just acting?"

She rolled her eyes. "How do you get all As? I am starting to get suspicious."

He sighed, looking back into her eyes. "It's been such a short time…. Don't you think we should actually still mourn for them?"

_Mourn? People still use that word? Really? _

"Yeah, sure." Alex smiled quickly. "If you want me to _mourn_ for Mason, I will!"

His jaw clenched in jealousy. "Pssh... Mason. What's that? The name of a…. a…. sub-atomic particle!" He frowned. "Well, technically that's M_e_son." He mumbled under his breath.

She rolled her eyes. "Making fun of the name of my ex, huh? What about your Juliet? She sounds like she came straight out of a play by Wordsworth."

He stared at her in disbelief and horror. "Shakespeare! Shakespeare, Alex! William Shakespeare wrote 'Romeo and Juliet'."

She shrugged non-chalantly. (_Like she really cared?) _"Whatever. Stop yelling! It's not my fault that they have the same first name!" (_And it's not the first time she made a mistake like this. Leonardo Da Caprio painted Monalisa during her Art Museum mess, remember?)_

He sighed, knowing it would be useless to argue any further. "It's getting late, and I am getting tired. Get out. I want to go to sleep. It's already 15 minutes past my self-imposed bed-time… Good night Alex."

"Night." She obeyed, unwillingly. But a hollow gnawing feeling started at the pit of her stomach, as she understood one thing- guilt was slowly crawling onto Justin. (_And she had to get rid of it.) _

* * *

On Friday morning, Alex woke up in the familiarity of her own room, frowning. Why wouldn't Justin let her stay with him? It was totally unfair and unacceptable!

She got up from her bed, feeling grouchy as usual, and headed downstairs, to find her whole family already seated at the breakfast table. "Good morning." She mumbled half-heartedly, taking a sip from Justin's drink and a bite from Max's sandwich.

"Justin, honey?" Their mother called him.

"I didn't do it!" Justin jumped up in his seat. "I didn't do anything, I promise!"

All eyes turned towards him immediately, questioningly faces staring at him. Alex noticed his droopy eyes, messy hair, tense jaws and the quivering of the nerve in his throat. Her lips curved upwards into a teasing smirk. _Of course he had a wet dream. Serves him right for kicking her out of his room!_

"Do what?" Theresa frowned, and then turned to Alex, placing a hand on her hip. "Alex, what did you to him?"

"What!" Alex protested immediately. "Just because Justin is acting weirder than usual doesn't mean I automatically have something to do with it!" (_It's not her fault that he dreamt about her!)_

Her mother glanced at her suspiciously, and finally sighed in defeat. "I am sorry for whatever she did to you, Justin."

He cringed. _Stupid guilt. _

"I told you I didn't do anything!" Alex protested again. (_Why does everyone in her family blame her? Seriously? What a dysfunctional family!) _"Right, Justin?"

Justin looked at her and tugged his lips upwards into what resembled a weak smile, before nodding and getting up from his seat. "I am really going to miss all these when I leave for college." He muttered, walking away.

Her mouth hung open, as she sat speechless, motionless.

_That college thing was STILL hanging between them? He was STILL thinking about leaving?_

_Really?_

**

* * *

(A/N: If anyone is interested in the noble task of helping me with the numerical problems of reflection of light, and thus putting an end to my slacking, please PM me immediately XD oh yeah, REVIEW!)**


	23. Ch 22: A day apart

**Disclaimer: I do not own WOWP… this is a more serious chapter, BTW. **

**Chapter 22: A day apart**

_No freaking way. _

_No. No. No. _

_He can't just leave her like that! Not after everything that happened between them!_

_No. NO. __**NO. **_

Alex finally managed to close her mouth, overcome her shock (petrifaction) and get up from her seat at the breakfast table. "I think I lost my appetite." She mumbled, discarding her napkin, picking up her backpack, and dashing towards the door.

"Hey." He smiled at her apologetically when she reached him. _(Of course he knew that she was mad. Who knew her better than him?)_

She looked away, and walked past him, not even acknowledging him. (_Yeah, she was making him feel invisible. It worked in movies; shouldn't it work in real life too?)_

"At least wait for Max and Harper!" he yelled behind her.

She ignored his cries and continued moving forward. Once out of his sight, she didn't bother to hold back her tears anymore. (_Gosh, Justin made her cry in public! He was going to pay for it SO bad.) _She sobbed, sniffled, cried, unable to control herself. People looked at her like she was crazy- she too thought she was crazy. She was definitely going to go crazy without Justin! What would she even do without him? (_What did those heroines do in the movies? Send boring texts all day, neglect her studies, act lazy, stop hanging out with people, sulk; act irritated all the time… Oh wait, she already did that. Pfft… except the crying.) _

She was moving towards the subway, when she suddenly stopped.

Did she really want to go to school like this? Her make up was ruined (_See! This is why she hates make-up!)_ Gigi would definitely know something was up. Besides, she was too upset to have people around her- she wasn't in a mood for talking.

Deciding to skip school that day, she turned to the left, heading for the freedom tunnel. (_If she can find an empty space, conjure up her drums with magic, she can probably pretend that the drums is Justin's face, right?)_

* * *

When Justin reached school, after a painfully silent and lonely ride in the subway (_He never noticed before how he was so habituated to Alex)_, the first person he looked for was Alex. And of course she wasn't there yet!

His mind was suddenly clouded with dark fears. Granted, Alex did come late to school most of the time (_she claimed it was fair, since she had to stay back till late because of detention)_, but she had started early that day, and that too in such a vulnerable mood. What if she did something stupid?

He cursed himself under his breath. He should have gone after that. He shouldn't have let her run away like that!

"What's wrong?" Zeke asked, staring at him and Harper. "You guys look really pale. Oh my gosh! Did robots declare war against mankind?"

Justin looked at him with annoyance, shook his head, and walked away.

Harper sighed, and linked her arms with Zeke. "It's Alex. Come on, I'll tell you on the way to class…"

* * *

Alex found herself in the freedom tunnel, sitting in front of the painting of two hands held together, that she had painting just before all of this started.

_He was supposed to hold her hand. He was supposed to hold her hand forever! He couldn't just leave her like this!_

"Hey Alex." She was startled by Leeh's voice from behind.

"Hey Leeh." She mumbled half-heartedly. (_Why couldn't people just leave her alone when she wanted to be left alone?)_

"What's wrong?" Leeh asked her cautiously. "You seem unusually quiet today."

She shook her head, not wanting to tell him.

"You know you can tell me." Leeh said, and got up, deciding against pressing the mater further.

"No, wait." Alex called behind him, jumped up from her seat, and sighed. "It's about Justin… you know, my brother? The dorky one… remember?"

Leeh frowned. "The one who called me monkey?"

Alex smiled at the memory. (_Happy times…. Sigh.) _"Yeah… him… he… he's leaving for college."

"Oh." Leeh smiled in understanding. "You are upset about him leaving, huh?"

Alex looked down at the ground. (_Was she actually going to admit this? Someone check if the sun rose at the east__*****__ today.) _"Yeah… I guess…." She looked up to glare at him. "Don't tell him."

Leeh held up his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender. (_Everyone feared Alex, is that such a surprise?) _"Don't worry about it."

Alex sighed, and sat down again (_Okay, now she is officially acting like those movie heroines. Except, Justin's no hero- he's the dork. The geek. The nerd. The stupid guy! That heart-breaker! Ugh! She hated him!) _"I can't think of a way to make him stay back."

Leeh sat down at the ground beside her, and patted her knee sympathetically. "You can't always get what you want, Alex. You can't always force people against their will."

"Maybe you are right." And her eyes lit up deviously with her devious idea. "Or… may be you are not." She got up from her seat, and turned on her heels to leave.

"No, I am right." Leeh protested, standing up as well (_If she can make her dad do sit downs and stand ups like this, he would totally lose those extra five pounds.) _"You can't always control people."

"Really? Cause I was kind of trying to make a dramatic exit. So..."

"Oh...Alright… do your thing."

Alex cleared her throat. "May be you are right…. Or…. May be you are not."

* * *

By lunch time, he knew she wasn't going to come to school. It took all of his efforts to not sneak away from school and look for her. He always knew Alex was this important to him- he just never had any idea how he would feel without her around him. And now that he did, he was sure he didn't want to feel to horrible feeling again, but would have to, once he left for college.

Justin sighed in defeat. What trouble had she got herself into this time?

* * *

He reached home and held his breath, hoping to see Alex there.

"Hi kids." Their mother paused midway, with the sandwich tray in her hand. "Where's Alex?"

And that ended all his hopes.

Harper's eyes widened. "Alex did not-"

"Want to come home so soon." Justin completed. "She'll catch up."

Their mother shrugged, and returned her full attention to her work.

Harper gave Justin a strange look. He ignored it, and went to his room.

* * *

The walk up the stairs seemed like the longest walk of his life. His feet seemed heavy, body drained of energy, and the steps just seemed to be increasing.

He finally reached his room, opened the door- and found her sitting on his bed.

"Alex!" He cried in relief, running up to her and pulling her into a hug. "Oh my gosh, are you alright? You scared me! I was scared that you decided to…to…" He choked on his words.

"Die?" she finished for him, and he cringed at the word. "Suicide is only for fools, Justin… besides, I am not going to die because of you!" she said 'you' with such distaste, it made him smile.

"Good girl." He mumbled, placing a soft kiss on her head.

"You didn't tell mom and dad that I skipped school, right?" she asked him fearfully.

He shook his head, and then frowned, fixing her with a glare, ready to demand all the answers. "Where have you been?"

She shrugged non-chalantly, making sure she hid that devious glint in her eyes. "I could have been anywhere, with anyone, Justin."

"Alex." He warned, not liking the tone she was using.

She waved her hand dismissively. "In fact, I can be anywhere, with anyone, doing anything when you leave for college. You wouldn't even know about it."

He sighed. "This is about college, isn't it?"

She shrugged, but her eyes pierced daggers at him. (_Fair enough. He had stabbed a dagger in her heart with his decision to leave… Ugh. Can she sound more cliché than this?)_ "What do you think?"

He looked at her seriously. "I think we need to talk, Alex."

**

* * *

*I know the directions in Hindi; I am confused about the English. I think the sun rises in the East… O.o **

**(A/N: Don't you guys just hate cliffhangers? *ducks debris* review for faster update… Reviews have dropped a lot for all my fics. LOL... but I still love you guys :P)  
**


	24. Ch 23: The decision

**Chapter 23: the decision**

And her heart skipped a beat. Did they just _have to _talk? The thing that Alex Russo hated the most (Well, besides studying and working) was serious conversations. Why couldn't more people be like her- non-chalant and carefree?

"Okay…" she spoke fearfully. "So, did you get your acceptance letter or something?"

"No, I didn't-" he paused mid-sentence to think. "Wait a minute…. How do _you_ know I already applied to universities?"

She sat quietly on the bed, bored, digging her nails. (_The dork still didn't get it?)_

"Oh my gosh! You went to my room again without asking!"

_And now he gets it!_

She stared at him incredulously and blinked. "Justin. I am in your room now. And I came in without asking. Pfft."

He glared at her, pursing his lips.

"What? No lecture? No yelling?" she asked in a mock hurt tone. _(Cell phones have buttons so that they can be pushed and texts can be typed. This shows that buttons are meant to be pushed. So, if he has buttons, why shouldn't she push them?)_

He pursed his lips more firmly and shook his head.

_Oh, so he thinks he can deny her the fight she is looking for? Really? _

She shrugged. "I was going through all your stuff." His eyes widened. "Your book shelf." His jaw tensed. "Your CDs." The vessel in his forehead was practically throbbing. "Your action figures." His hands formed into fists. "Your drawers."

"Alex! How can times have I told you to keep away from the cloth shelf?" he yelled. (_Finally!)_

She shrugged. "I am sorry, Justin. I don't remember the exact figure. I wasn't listening." (_Besides, she doesn't keep track of things like that. Only Justin would care about such silly things.)_

He took in deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. (_He should be working for wizard world peace, really.)_

"So, why didn't you apply at NYU?" she asked casually.

He shrugged and shook his head.

The venom in her eyes returned. "Running away?" she snarled. "Scared little kid."

He looked at her incredulously. "Aren't _you_ scared?"

"Yeah, yeah." She waved her hand indifferently (_She slayed a dragon in the wizard world. She tricked 709 people in 17 years. Remember?)_. "Oh, come on! Everyone knew someday I would land up in jail."

"Good point." He mumbled, before he became serious once again. "Alex, are you sure you understand what we are doing here?"

"Um, yeah, we are talking, duh. What's there not to understand about it?" she rolled her eyes.

"You know I am not talking about our conversation." He stated simply, while his eyes were fixed on the ground. _Why did he always have to feel so embarrassed, so guilty?_

She sighed and sat up properly. "Look, Justin, I know you are having a hard time about this… thinking about the future, consequences and all those useless things, but really, sometimes you just need to take risks… and…" she bit her bottom lip, unable to believe that she was actually going to admit this (_That would cost her a life time of teasing. Well, until she found something to hold against him.)_. "I think you are worth the risk."

His lips curved upwards into a loving smile. "Awww, come here!" he cooed, pulling her into a hug.

She whined. "See, this is why I didn't want to tell you!"

He tightened his hold on her, and that shut her up. "I think you are worth it all too Alex." He whispered seriously.

"Then why are you leaving me?" she accused. _And her voice just had to crack at that moment. Really? But wait, maybe that will melt his_ _heart?_ "You…. You said you wouldn't leave if I beg…. I… ugh. I am begging you Justin, please don't leave."

He rubbed her back soothingly. "I am sorry, it's just…" He laughed sadly. "Career Alex. I am just trying to ensure we have the best possible future… I mean… we would have to run away all the time… we need money… we need jobs. And let's be honest, I don't think you will do good in that department…. It's all for our future Alex."

"What about the present?" she asked. "How will I live without you for three years?"

He pulled back, looked into her eyes, and smiled mischievously. "Something tells me that someone is gonna keep popping into my dorm using magic."

She smiled back evilly. "I love how you know me…"

He grinned smugly. She smacked his shoulder.

This time, she was the one who turned serious. "We can't back away now Justin… I know I don't want to… and even if you want to, we can't. We are not like the other couples… if we break off, we destroy our whole relationship."

He nodded, agreeing with her. "Believe me Alex, I don't want to back out either, I just… I mean… this is such a huge thing, I… I just need some more time to get used to this."

She smiled brightly at him. She wasn't going to say this out loud, but she was going to give him whatever time he needed. Anything to be with him happily.

"So…" he trailed, trying to ease the atmosphere. "I guess you will let me go to college with minimum physical damage and minimum destruction of my things?" he asked hopefully.

She shrugged and got up from the bed. "Wouldn't make a fake promise there, buddy."

* * *

She got out of the room and went to her bed, to find Harper already sitting there, looking all sorts of scared and worried.

"Oh my gosh Alex, where have you been all day?" Harper squealed, pulling her into a hug. (_Seriously? What's with people and hugging today?)_

Alex shrugged. "I was in Justin's room, looking for things to steal."

"You should have told me." Harper complained.

"You would have told him!" Alex reasoned.

"I wouldn't!" Harper protested.

"You would have told Zeke, and Zeke would have told him." Alex pointed her.

Harper sighed. "I guess you are right."

"See Harper", Alex grinned. "It's all your fault."

**

* * *

(A/N: I have good news and bad news. Bad news is that this is the last chapter of the fic. The only thing left now is the epilogue. That will make it 25 chapters. That's how I like my good fics. The good news is, I have already found the idea for my next big fic, and I am returning to pure angst. It's gonna be called 'she did not hate me' or 'don't say it's not love'. I hope you guys like that…. oh yeah, review. And watch out for the epilogue.)**


	25. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I do not own WOWP…. Long author's notes at the bottom. *yawn* :P **

**Epilogue**

* * *

She did let him leave with minimum injury. Well, she was trying to. It's not her fault that he couldn't see her extended leg and tripped!

She did cause minimum damage to his things. She just stole all his story books, sparing his robots. _(And maybe she cut off one chord from each robot. But come on, he's a geek. He will figure it out and fix it…. After freaking out for hours. Hopefully.) _

When the rest of the family and friends gave him gifts, she decided she would have to give something too. Pushing the naughty thoughts aside (_Why freak him out on the last day of home?) _she decided to just drop twelve cockroaches in his room.

"ALEX!" he yelled her name a hundred times, and grumbled to his parents for a hundred minutes, refusing to sleep in his room unless every single cockroach (_and possible other creepy-crawlies too) _were discovered and removed.

Their parents began to scold her immediately. She pointed out that they could fix it with just a flick of her wand. Of course her mother had to be paranoid about 'magic destroying their normal lives' and blah! So in the end, Justin had to bunk in her room.

Which was horrible, because she had planned to sleep the pain through. Instead, he held her in his arms, close to his heart, and the stupid sobbing began. 

"Hey, don't cry." He whispered softly. "Do you want the last thing I see to be your crying face?"

"No." she sniffled, snarling back. "The last thing I wanna see is your crying face."

He chuckled sadly. "I will miss you too Alex..."

* * *

When Justin and Zeke left, Harper switched to all black and white clothes in longing for Zeke. (_For two days, Alex had freaked out, thinking Harper was going to grab her to some stupid silent movie.)_ Alex refused to do anything like that. She was not going to change her style statement for Justin. Period.

* * *

"Hey…" he whispered, leaning his head against the phone so that it rested on the crook on his shoulder.

"Hey…" she whispered back.

"I just called to check your progress. How much of the apartment you have burned down do far?"

"Hey!" Alex yelled in protest. "I am not planning to burn down my house! The only thing I wanna destroy is your room."

He had scoffed and laughed it off at the moment. But since this was Alex, the fear and panic set in within an hour, and he called up his mom, specially insisting to protect his room.

_Pffft… Like that can stop a devious wizard with a creative mind!_

* * *

When he came home for his first vacation, it had been a rainy day, and she had been more snarky than usual. (_Sometimes she thought she was the sun-cheer witch or something. Really!) _The whole family had gone to receive him at the airport. (_She had tried the 'I'd rather sleep all day than see Justin's dork-face', but than only made her mother glare harder at her.) _The moment she saw him, looking all grown up and all sorts of less-dorky, she ran up to his arms. He whirled her around in his arms. And as romantic and cliché as it had been, and even though it earned them weird looks from the people around, they just didn't care.

What they did care about was their mother 'aww'-ing in the background. They quickly broke apart after that. Why spoil the reputation?

"Thanks for ruining my happy days." Alex snarled, smiling at him.

"Oh, don't thank me yet." He snarled back.

Theresa huffed. "You guys are hilarious! Just say that you love each other!"

"NO WE DON"T!"

* * *

He had decided to go to the same college as Zeke. They even shared the same apartment.

Unfortunately, Harper couldn't get into the same college as Zeke. So, she dragged Alex to the same college as her, and despite her whines, protests and threats, her parents forced her to keep going and not drop out.

* * *

"_Zeke's talking to Harper again."_ Justin texted her. (They found out that dating using texts was actually quite easy. No one ever found out who they were talking to, or what they were writing. It was easier to keep the secret.)

"_I know. I can see Harper on the phone. Duh!"_ she texted back.

"_Hear what they are whispering?" _he asked.

"_Yeah… gross."_ She texted back, wondering why cell phones didn't have a 'scrunch face in disgust' special smiley.

"_How about you treat me the same?" _he texted again, adding a wink smiley.

"_Ew. Grosser."_ She texted back playfully.

(They made love the first time when they went home for vacation two months later. And she will admit it- when it comes to this; Justin is definitely not a dork.)

* * *

When the Wizard Competition took place, Max had won. Everyone stared in wonder, but no one ever suspected a thing.

(_When Alex Russo conjures up a mud pool and makes Justin Russo fall, and when Justin Russo in turn traps her with roots, it does look natural. Her plan- of course!)_

Losing their powers never made them feel normal. They were not normal people.

* * *

"So…." She trailed, fidgeting in her bed in the old Russo apartment. (_It was totally her mother's fault that she hated holidays. Why cook all of Justin's favorite dishes, instead of buying her favorite junk foods?)_

He lifted his glass-rimmed eyes from the book, and arched an eyebrow at her.

"How about California?" she asked.

He shook his head, turning the page.

"Okay…. Then, Florida?" she asked again.

He sighed, and put the book down. "Alex… we need to find a place far away…" and then he frowned. "Though I have no idea how we get there."

She rolled her eyes. "Justin. We can just use the IPP!"

He shook his head again. "They will track us down."

"Not if I leave blackmail letters for each one of them." She reasoned.

He glared at her.

"Fine! Fine!" she held up her hands in the air. "Do whatever the heck you want." She yelled, storming out of the room.

* * *

"Fine." He gave in within five days. "We will use the IPP to get to Japan."

"Why Japan?" she asked lazily, digging her black painted nails. (_Maybe he just gave in. but that doesn't mean she isn't going to take revenge on the soft skin of his back!)_

He looked down at the ground in shame. "I kind of picked a job in robot building…"

She chuckled. "Wow. Never thought I'd see the day when your geek-stuff would come in handy for me…. So, when do we leave?"

"Now."

She stared at him in disbelief. "But Justin, I haven't packed my things…."

"Don't take your things." He commanded. "I want us to leave all our past behind."

She bit back a sob. "So… we won't say bye to mom and dad?"

This time, he stared at her in disbelief. "Alex. We are running away!"

"Good point." She mumbled under her breath.

* * *

"This is it then." He whispered, looking at the lair one last time.

She looked away to hide the tears in her eyes. "Yeah, this is it…"

"Alex." He whispered softly. "In case, you know, something goes wrong…. Just know that, I will always love you Alex."

She gave him a soft smile in reply. "I love you too, Justin. Always."

* * *

Her eyes nearly bulged out of her skull when they landed in Japan. What was Harper and Zeke's brand new car doing there?

"I kind of borrowed it from Zeke." Justin explained. "But, you know, without asking him."

A gasp escaped her lips. When did Justin get sneaky?

"Come on in!" he insisted, opening the door. "We need to drive far away before they figure out we are gone."

Alex overcame her initial state of shock, and slowly crawled into the front seat. Stealing her best friend's dream car was not something she had wanted to do, but really, Harper deserved this.

After all, all of this was totally her best friend's fault to begin with!

* * *

(**A/N: this has been such an amazing journey for me. Angst is my thing; I never even thought I could write comedy. Lol. Thanks for sticking by me in this journey :) I hope I could entertain you. Thanks to reach reader for the 27320 hits, 469 reviews, 105 alerts and 78 favorites. This specially helped me convince my mother that I should give my dream of writing a try. So, here's a heart-felt thank you from my side. Thank you, for letting me find myself :) **

My next 'big' story will be angst, as I already said. On second thoughts, I decided to name it '**Holocaust'**-"_You searched for every single emotion in every corner of my heart, found them, and killed them all, brutally. Like the massive holocaust."_ Prologue will be up anytime.

Now review and tell me how you liked the epilogue! How about a 500 reviews? That would be freak me out!)


	26. Thank you and Sequel

Hey guys! Sorry to update with just an author's notes, but I just wanted to say **THANK YOU** to all of you for the amazing response! And well, I thought I need to add in about the **sequel** here. It's called "**Blame her best friend**". Hope you like it. And thanks once again :)


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